Meralco arrests slump, holds off Phoenix to keep playoff hopes alive

Meralco banked on the hot hands of Aaron Black to fend off Phoenix, 82-76, and keep its flickering playoff chances alive in the PBA Philippine Cup on Friday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Bolts also snapped their two-game losing streak to improve to 4-5, overtaking Backwater at the ninth spot while the Fuel Masters slipped to a 3-7 card. 

Black clicked from the rainbow country with four three-pointers to finish with 18 points on top of four rebounds, four assists, one steal, and one block as they recovered from tough back-to-back losses to Converge and TNT.

Chris Newsome and Chris Banchero made their veteran presence felt with 15 and 14 points apiece while Maliksi shone off the bench with 13 markers. 

Phoenix, who was coming off a 108-101 loss to the Tropang Giga, leaned on Kenneth Tuffin and Kent Salado, who churned out 14 and 12 points each. 

Meralco, though, will have a tough road ahead of its bid to enter the quarterfinals as the Bolts will take on Magnolia on Sunday and San Miguel on May 4. Both the Beermen and the Hotshots are the top two leading squads so far. 

Scores:

Meralco 82 – Black 18, Newsome 15, Banchero 14, Maliksi 13, Hodge 6, Caram 6, Bates 4, Almazan 3, Quinto 3, Pasaol 0, Torres 0, Pascual 0.

Phoenix 76 – Tuffin 14, Salado 12, Jazul 9, Rivero 9, Mocon 7, Garcia 6, Perkins 5, Muyang 4, Verano 4, Alejandro 3, Soyud 3, Daves 0, Camacho 0.

Quarters: 24-21, 34-38, 60-53, 82-76.

—Bea Micaller/JKC, GMA Integrated News