Bolts post crucial win over Kings

The Meralco Bolts finally found the chemistry they had been searching for, and just in time, too.

With import Earl Barron and key players Macmac Cardona and Sol Mercado all waxing hot at the same time, the Bolts weathered a late charge by the Barangay Ginebra Kings to fashion out a crucial 89-80 victory in PBA Commissioner's Cup action.

The win allowed Meralco to snap a two-game skid while also keeping the team in the mix for a quarterfinal berth with a 2-4 record. A loss would have put the Bolts at a precarious 1-5 with only three games left. The bottom four teams will get the boot in this conference.

"I was really hoping with more games played we'll find the right chemistry and cohesion that we wanted," Bolts coach Ryan Gregorio said. "With our win-loss mark we can't be complacent."

Barron was red-hot in the third period, when he hit 16 of his game-high 27 points to help the Bolts erect an 18-point spread. Cardona and Mercado ably backed him up with 25 and 17, respectively, as the two finally had good games simultaneously.

"Tonight we got a glimpse of our future," Gregorio noted. "Making Mac and Sol work together can bring wonders." Mercado started the conference with an injury and struggled in his return. But last night he showed he had recaptured his form, and he and Cardona moved a step closer to fulfilling their coach's vision for them as a deadly one-two scoring punch.

Kings import Jackson Vroman had 19 points, but battled foul trouble for most of the second half, picking up his fourth foul less than two minutes into the third period and forcing Coach Siot Tanquincen to sit him down. Meralco had a shaky 42-39 lead at the time, and as soon as Vroman sat down, Barron immediately went to work and fueled a 15-5 run.

With Barron frolicking on offense, Tanquincen had no choice but to send Vroman back into the mix, but the international veteran was whistled for his fifth foul after barely two minutes and had to sit down again. Moments later, Cardona buried an unmolested triple to give the Bolts their largest lead of the game at 64-46.

The customary Ginebra run got underway in the fourth as Enrico Villanueva and Willie Wilson came off the bench and teamed with Caguioa to give a spark to the Kings' lethargic offense. Vroman returned with less than six minutes left and joined the run, which was capped by a Caguioa triple that cut the lead to 81-77 with three minutes left.

Barron and Vroman exchanged baskets, and then Cardona and Caguioa both missed three-point attempts to keep the Bolts lead at four. Cardona hit two free throws to give the Bolts a six-point spread with only 43 ticks left, and the Bolts' interior defense took over on the next possession, foiling Kerby Raymundo's undergoal stab. Cardona missed a floater, but the Kings threw the ball away after Jay-Jay Helterbrand's errant pass was picked off by Chris Ross, whose fastbreak layup with 16.7 seconds remaining put the game away at 87-79.

"It's hard to languish in the cellar," Gregorio said. "We told ourselves to prepare the right way because we need to start winning."

Meralco's three remaining assignments are against Rain or Shine, Barako Bull and Air21, and Gregorio made it clear that nothing less than a sweep of those three games will guarantee them passage into the quarterfinal round.

The Kings missed out on a big chance to seize the solo lead after defending champion Talk 'N Text was upset by the Express in the first game. The Tropang Texters slipped to 3-1, but with the loss to the Bolts, Ginebra fell to 3-2 and a four-way tie for second with Petron Blaze, B-Meg, and Alaska. It's bound to become a mad dash for the six slots as lurking just half a game behind at 2-2 are Air21 and Powerade, while Barako Bull is a game behind at 2-3.

E-mail: sid_ventura@yahoo.com. Twitter: @Sid_Ventura