Hugnatan, Alapag lift Meralco past TNT

The Meralco Bolts hit 17 triples en route to defeating TNT KaTropa 119-113 on Saturday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

"I considered it a great team effort from Meralco. I'm  proud of my players for getting over the hump," said Meralco head coach Norman Black. "This is a crucial win for us."

Up by just one after a pair of Jayson Castro triples, Jimmy Alapag hit a triple to stretch the lead to four, 115-111, with 1:09 remaining. TNT import Mychal Ammons exchanged charities with Chris Newsome, before Allen Durham ushered in the final 31 seconds with two more freetrhows, 119-113.

Back-to-back misses from Castro from beyond the arc forced TNT to foul Jonathan Uyloan, and the guard missed both to keep the game interesting with 13 seconds remaining. Another miss from Ammons from deep had Meralco clinching the victory, as Durham secured the defensive board to drain the clock.

Reynel Hugnatan was stellar for Meralco, hitting 21 points with five triples in 28 minutes. Allen Durham still paced the team with 23 points, while Jimmy Alapag tallied 17 off the bench. Chris Newsome was steady with 16, while Cliff Hodge and Baser Amer added 13 and 12 points, respectively.

"We have a lot of contributions from a lot of people; everybody chipped in as far as points is concerned," Black added as his team is now just one win away from reaching the finals. "We need another effort like this to make us realize our dream to reach the championship. Why not dream big, why not think big?"

TNT's starters carried the load for coach Jong Uichico's team, with Jayson Castro leading the pack with 28 points. Larry Fonacier tallied 20 as a starter, while Kelly Williams and Ranidel De Ocampo scored 15 points each. Import Mychal Ammons settled for 14 points. —ALG, GMA News