Bolts survive Bolick's 48 points, draw first blood vs Road Warriors

MANILA, Philippines -- The Meralco Bolts weathered the 48-point explosion of Robert Bolick to hang on against the NLEX Road Warriors, 97-93, in Game 1 of their PBA Philippine Cup best-of-three quarterfinals series Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Allein Maliksi led the six Bolts in double figures with 22 markers off the bench. He also hauled down four rebounds.

With the Road Warriors trailing by just one, 83-84, with a split from the line by Bolick, Bong Quinto dialed in a 3-pointer from beyond the arc to give Meralco a four-point cushion, 87-83.

A Bolick deuce gave NLEX a one-point lead, 93-92, with a minute remaining, but Maliksi’s freebies gave the Bolts the lead once again.

On the other end, Michael Miranda missed a game-leading jumpshot. A miss-and-make from the charity stripe by Chris Newsome gave the Road Warriors a window of opportunity to tie or take the lead, 95-93.

But Richie Rodger committed a turnover in the next possession. Two pressure-packed freebies by Maliksi iced the game as Bolick missed a 3-pointer with time winding down.

NLEX led by as much as 12 points, 56-44, at the start of the third quarter with a jumper by Michael Miranda.

The Bolts though climbed back, cutting the deficit to two, 60-62 after a Maliksi jumper.

A 11-3 run capped by a triple by Miranda gave the Road Warriors an eight point advantage once again, 73-65, but an 8-2 counter-attack turned the game into a two possession affair, 73-75, heading into the fourth canto.

Raymond Almazan had a solid game with 15 points and six rebounds. Anjo Caram added 14, while Newsome and Chris Banchero provided 12 markers apiece.

Quinto chipped in 11 and six off the bench for Meralco.

Bolick went on 12-of-25 field goal shooting and had an 18-of-19 clip from the free throw line.

Miranda was the only other NLEX player in double figures with 14.

Meralco will try to advance to the next round of the playoffs on Sunday, 6:15 p.m., at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.