Over time, Bolts turn back Elite

MANILA, Philippines - Cliff Hodge came through with career highs 26 points and 18 rebounds while John Wilson delivered in overtime as Meralco overcame the gritty Blackwater squad, 83-75, to log its second straight win in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

The Bolts blew away an 18-point third-quarter lead but regrouped in the extra period, with Wilson firing away all of his nine points in OT as they made it two in a row following a 112-108 double-overtime victory over the Barako Bull Energy Wednesday.

“I don’t like overtimes but my players seem to like it. It’s okay for as long as we come up with the win,” said Meralco coach Norman Black.

“We had a pretty good flow of the game in the first three quarters, but once Blackwater got momentum, it was very hard for us to stop them,” Black also said.

Meanwhile, Barangay Ginebra shoots for its third win in a row as it goes up with NLEX in the 7 p.m. mainer of today’s twinbill at the Big Dome in a match featuring former MVP winner Asi Taulava and 2014 Rookie of the Year awardee Greg Slaughter.

Rain or Shine (1-1) and Kia (1-1) clash in the curtain raiser at 4:15 p.m.

The Elite pulled even at 70 on a three-pointer by Bam Gamalinda with 14.8 seconds to go in regulation, then had a chance to steal the game as Jason Ballesteros grabbed an important defensive rebound with four seconds left.

Ballesteros immediately sued for a player’s timeout but the referees apparently missed it and instead ruled a jump ball between Ballesteros and Sean Anthony a little later.

The 6-foot-7 Blackwater center won the tap but the ball went out of bounds as time expired thus sending the game into five extra minutes.

Alaska Milk executed what their coach called a “character play by character guys” in the final seconds as the Aces pulled off a nerve-wracking 100-98 win over the Talk n Text Tropang Texters later in the night.

Jvee Casio stopped a drive by Jayson Castro then Dondon Hontiveros picked up the loose ball and made a good decision to pitch a pass to Calvin Abueva who scored on a runner off Larry Fonacier at the buzzer as the Aces completed a stirring victory coming from an 18-point deficit.

“I was asking for timeout but Dondon obviously didn’t hear me. He made a great decision and the guys made a fantastic play,” said Alaska coach Alex Compton of the winning play that handed the team victory No. 2.

Talk n Text dropped to 1-2.