Meralco catches Petron on off night, trounces Boosters

Meralco caught Petron on its off night, running away with a one-sided 105-83 decision to claim its first win in the PBA Commissioner's Cup at the Astrodome in Pasay City.  The Boosters were only in the game midway in the first half, after which the Bolts went on an attack mode to pull away early and settle the outcome of the match. Mark Macapagal buried a long three-pointer while Gabby Espinas made a shotclock-beating basket to cap the Bolts' huge 20-8 run just before the break. Suddenly a six-point Meralco lead ballooned to 56-38 with 45 seconds left in the second quarter. The Boosters never put up a fight from there as the Bolts, on a Paul Artadi three-pointer, gave Meralco a huge 70-47 advantage. Jarred Famous paced Meralco with 26 points, but it was the Bolts' locals who did most of the damage during that crucial breakaway in the opening half. Mark Borboran finished with 18, Mark Cardona had 16 and Espinas tallied 13 for the Bolts, who evened their card at 1-1 to join Alaska and Barako Bull from third to fifth place. Coming off a heartbreaking 84-82 loss to sister-team Barangay Ginebra, the Boosters are now at the cellar with a 0-2 card, and will face league leader B-MEG Llamados on Sunday. Nick Fazekas again produced big on the offensive end for the Boosters with 23 points, but the rest of the team hardly made an impact and didn't really get their numbers until the outcome of the game had already been settled. Arwind Santos was the biggest disappointment as the lanky forward finished with just two points. He made his lone basket midway in the fourth period with the Bolts coasting to victory. — JVP, GMA News