Bolts bent on getting back at Beermen

MANILA, Philippines -- After a crucial loss in Game 4 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals, the Meralco Bolts are raring to “punch back” and wrest control of the series once again.

Meralco and defending champion San Miguel are currently tied in the championship series at two games apiece after the latter's big 111-101 win on Wednesday.

After the loss, Bolts guard Chris Newsome said it will now come down to “who’s playing the best basketball at the right time.”

“It’s a tough loss for us today but that’s why we got the win last game so we’re gonna have that advantage and now, we’re back to square one,” he said.

“It’s now our turn to punch back, we got a day of rest and we’re back at it on Friday and it’s gonna be a grind-out for the rest of the series but we’re gonna have the energy, we’re gonna have to refocus, stay focused of course, and just get back to playing our basketball,” he added.

Newsome, who scored a career-high 40 points in Game 4, stressed that they were a bit slower-paced than usual in their loss, which gave San Miguel the edge.

“I think our pace was a little bit slower today than usual, so even though we scored 101 points, I thought we could have pushed our pace a lot more today,” he underscored.

The former Ateneo Blue Eagle acknowledged that the squad should have pushed the tempo more especially when Terrence Romeo and Vic Manuel, who have not seen the floor in the series before Game 4, were inside the game.

Manuel and Romeo provided the spark off the bench as “magic bunot,” with the former scoring eight while the latter finishing with seven in limited minutes.

“We definitely would have pushed the pace but again, San Miguel played well and they hit their shots today so you gotta give credit to them.”

Meralco head coach Luigi Trillo, for his part, said they need to be locked in and have better energy to get the 3-2 lead.

Tip-off will be at 7:30 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.