Bolts spoil Gilas stars return, blast Texters

MANILA, Philippines - Meralco came charging back from a 10-point halftime deficit as the Bolts withstood the Talk n Text Tropang Texters and their returning Gilas Pilipinas stars to carve out a 92-86 victory in the PBA Governors Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

The Bolts gutted out defensively and rode high on Mario West’s 47-point explosion on the other end as they checked a two-game slide and pulled even with the reigning champs Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the middle of the chart at 2-2.

“The best way to compete with a star-studded team is to focus on defense. I thought that’s our only chance, and it bailed us out,” said Meralco coach Ryan Gregorio.

“Mario West lifted our spirit offensively. There’s time that we’re losing it. But we kept on  trying to find a way to win. We finally broke their zone in the second half,” Gregorio also said. 

Gilas Pilipinas mainstays Ranidel de Ocampo, Jayson Castro and Larry Fonacier rejoined Talk n Text but failed to save the Texters from reeling to a second straight loss.

Meralco’s defense and West’s explosion proved too much.

West went 4-of-8 from the three-point area, 14-of-19 from the two-point zone and 7-of-12 from the stripe as he improved his previous PBA best of 41 points.

The former Atlanta Hawk and New Jersey Net nearly outscored the entire Talk n Text team in the fourth quarter, piling up 18 points to power the Bolts to the come-from-behind win.

Import Michael Singletary and rookie guard Eman Monfort continued to do wonders for Barako Bull, leading the Energy Cola to a third straight win with a 104-91 whipping of the Barangay Ginebra Kings in the nightcap.

Singletary collected 38 points and 17 rebounds while Monfort contributed 25 markers, two rebounds, two assists and two steals as the Energy Cola regained a piece of the lead with the Petron Blaze Boosters at 3-1. The Kings fell to 1-2.