Victory over San Miguel a 'big deal' for Meralco, says coach Norman Black

Meralco head coach Norman Black was left impressed by how his Bolts stood their ground against the San Miguel Beermen in their 93-87 win in the 2021 Philippine Cup Sunday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.

According to Black, their latest victory came with a lot of challenges as SMB fought until the dying minutes but the decorated mentor stressed a win is still a win.

"We got off to a slow start. I thought San Miguel really played aggressively in the first quarter," Black said during the post-game interview.

"We’re very happy with the fact that we’re starting off 2-0. To put San Miguel behind us is a big deal for us."

The victory over SMB is Meralco's second win in as many games after it opened its 2021 campaign on a high note last Friday against NorthPort, 85-63.

Against the Beermen, meanwhile, Chris Newsome and veteran Reynel Hugnatan did the heavy lifting after they scored 17 and 13, respectively. The Bolts also got a solid showing from sophomore Aaron Black, who wound up with 14 markers, along with four rebounds.

Black said the win is important as the Beermen are eyeing to return to glory after they bowed out of contention last conference, bidding goodbye to an attempt for an  All-Filipino six-peat.

The American mentor also hopes that his wards carry the momentum over to their next game against another powerhouse team in TNT next Saturday, July 24.

"We always have to get wins at this point of the season, we do not want to get left behind because it’s going to be trouble to catch up later."

—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA News