MANILA – Jansen Rios knocked down a go-ahead three-pointer as Meralco Bolts pulled off a 96-91 victory over Terrafirma Dyip in the 2024-25 PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Friday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.
With both teams knotted at 91-apiece with under a minute left, Rios was left wide open for a go-ahead three-pointer from the corner, giving the Bolts a 94-91 lead with nine seconds left.
After an inbound turnover by the Dyip, the Bolts increased the advantage to five points at 96-91 on two free throws by Chris Newsome before they forced Terrafirma to another turnover in the final seconds.
Rios finished the game with 11 points, including two three-point conversions, to go with three rebounds and a steal as the Bolts surged to first place in the standings with a 3-0 win-loss slate.
David John Kennedy overcame an early foul trouble to finish with 32 points, six rebounds, and four assists, Raymond Almazan tallied a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds and Newsome contributed 15 markers for the Bolts.
Bolts head coach Luigi Trillo lauded the resiliency shown by the Dyip as they fought back from 16 points down (67-51 in the third quarter) to force a 91-all score on two free throws by Vic Manuel.
“We got lucky because maganda ‘yung laro ng Terrafirma,” Trillo said in a post-game interview. “They played better in the first half, but we got our game going in the third quarter, enough to take the lead.”
“Give them credit, ‘yung resiliency nila, those players never gave up,” he added. “I am not happy with the way we executed in the last three minutes, it’s just good thing that Jansen hit the three.”
Brandon Edwards tallied a double-double of 21 points and 13 rebounds, Brent Paraiso added a conference-high of 20 markers, while Manuel and Mark Sangalang had 13 and 10 points, respectively, as the Dyip dropped to 0-3./PN
BOX SCORE:
MERALCO 96 – Kennedy 32, Newsome 15, Almazan 15, Rios 11, Caram 7, Pascual 6, Quinto 4, Hodge 3, Pasaol 2, Black 1, Jose 0, Torres 0.
TERRAFIRMA 91 – Edwards 21, Paraiso 20, Manuel 13, Sangalang 10, Melecio 9, Pringle 6, Olivario 5, Catapusan 2, Nonoy 2, Ramos 2, Ferrer 1, Hernandez 0, Zaldivar 0.
Quarterscores: 21-20, 39-40, 69-61, 96-91.
