PBA: Macklin drives in game-winner as Ginebra slips by Meralco

(Updated 8:40pm) Barangay Ginebra San Miguel made it six wins in a row as they defeated the Meralco Bolts, 91-90, thanks to a go-ahead basket by their import Vernon Macklin on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Ginebra improved their record to 7-5, tying sister team Petron Blaze Boosters, as they joined the Alaska Aces and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters as teams who have clinched postseason berths. Meralco on the other hand fell to 6-6, part of a three-way tie right behind their foes, with the San Mig Coffee Mixers, and the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters. Up by as much as nine points late in the fourth period, the Barangay watched as their lead evaporated because of a three-point barrage from Ronjay Buenafe and Sunday Salvacion. Luckily for them however, they were bailed out by their import, while Meralco's import Eric Dawson failed to sink his buzzer-beating attempt. Mac Baracael was named Best Player of the Game with 17 points and six rebounds, but it was Macklin who was the star of the night for the fan-favorite franchise. Ahead 89-87 with just 22 seconds remaining in the game, all Ginebra needed to do was make one stop to preserve their winning streak. Ronjay Buenafe took a hurried three-point shot, which clanked off the rim, but Meralco got the ball back. The Bolts then found Sunday Salvacion who buried a three point shot to give Meralco the lead. With their back against the wall and their five-game winning streak on the line, Ginebra went to Vernon Macklin, who responded by driving strong to the basket and converting the game-winner. To start the game, Meralco went to Dawson, who scored 57 points in their last outing. However, he missed his first two attempts. Vernon Macklin finally opened up the scoring at the 10:13 mark of the first quarter with one of his patented jump hooks, but Ronjay Buenafe quickly replied with a three-point shot. Macklin scored six more points early in the first quarter, the last of which was a put-back slam off an LA Tenorio miss to give the Kings an 11-10 lead. Mac Cardona then took the lead back for Meralco with a teardrop shot. Two free throws from Dawson and a lay-up from Chris Ross gave the Bolts a 16-11 lead. Two baskets from Rob Labagala sandwiched a jump hook from Cardona for an 18-14 count with a little over two minutes remaining in the first quarter. Four free throws from Macklin knotted the game at 18, but Meralco went on a 6-0 run to end the first period holding a 24-18 lead. A triple by Ross gave the Bolts a 33-26 lead at the 8:30 mark of the second, but Rudy Hatfield made a shot while lying on his back to the delight of the Ginebra crowd. Two free throws from Tenorio at the 4:08 mark of the second quarter proceeded to tie the ball game at 37-al and gave the Barangay the momentum. A Ginebra three-ball put them up 42-41, but Dawson converted on a long two with 54 seconds left in the second quarter to retake the lead for the Bolts. Mac Baracael wrote the last sentence of the first half with a banker to give the Kings a 44-43 lead going into the break. The two teams went tit-for-tat in the first few minutes of the third quarter. A couple of free throws from Dawson tied the game at 49 as Buenafe followed it up with a four-point play on their next possession, to establish a 53-49 lead for the Bolts. Ginebra then went on a counter run, punctuated with a Tenorio steal, which the point guard turned into an alley-oop pass for a two-handed Macklin dunk and a 64-58 lead. After a Chris Timberlake make on the other side, Tenorio converted a three-point basket for a 67-60 lead with four minutes remaining in the third. Back-to-back fast break lay-ups from Rudy Hatfield and Tenorio gave the Kings a 71-62 lead with a little over a minute left in the period. Ginebra appeared to be on their way to another fast break conversion, but Jayjay Helterbrand turned the ball over, leading to two Reynel Hugnatan free throws for a 71-64 count in favor of Ginebra at the end of the third. Not wanting to be left behind, the Bolts went to Sunday Salvacion, and he responded with a four-point play to start the final quarter. After an Ellis make for Ginebra, Meralco then got another three, this time from Buenafe, to cut down the deficit to three. Hugnatan followed it up with a mid-range jumper to cut the lead back down to one. Ginebra got a bit of breathing room, but Dawson completed an and-one play to tie the game at 79, halfway through the fourth period. Mac Baracael heated up in the fourth, as he strung together a bunch of points to give Ginebra the lead, with one of his jumpers at the 2:26 mark handing his side an 89-81 cushion. With the game slipping away, Meralco went back to Salvacion who responded with another trey to keep their chances alive. After Ginebra came up empty, Meralco looked to get another three-point basket, but the Kings trapped Buenafe and forced him to call their team's last timeout. Ross got the ball back after giving out the inbound pass, but his three-point attempt was far off. The ball luckily bounced Meralco's way, which led to another Buenafe three-point basket to cut the Ginebra lead down to two, 89-87, with 1:12 remaining in the game. Macklin produced a game-high 31 points on 13-of-20 shooting, while also hauling in 12 rebounds. LA Tenorio scored 17, and dished out six assists, while Rob Labagala and Rudy Hatfield accounted for 10 markers each. Eric Dawson stuffed the stats sheet with 27 points, including an 11-of-13 clip at the foul line, 14 rebounds, four assists, four steals and five blocks. Unfortunately for Meralco, he also accounted for eight of his side's 20 turnovers. Ronjay Buenafe poured in 19 points, 12 from downtown. Chris Ross came off the bench for 11 points, seven rebounds and seven dimes, while scorers Mark Cardona and Sunday Salvacion fired in a total of 19. BGSM shot slightly better from the field, 45.2 percent versus Meralco's 41.5 percent clip, despite converting a mere 3-of-11 from downtown. The Bolts meanwhile were 8-of-22 on long-range attempts. - RAF/AMD, GMA News