MANILA, Philippines – Prior to taking questions during the press conference following Game Two, Chris Newsome, the star player, and Luigi Trillo, the coach of Meralco, shared the stat sheet to verify the numbers.

Trillo believed they had their work cut out for them in their match against Barangay Ginebra, even though they ultimately prevailed rather easily.

“We have to persevere through the difficult situation,” Trillo remarked, referring to their team’s lengthy battle with the Gin Kings in the PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinal series. 

Happy to escape a 0 to 2 deficit, Trillo was pleased with their performance in Game Two, winning 103 to 91. However, he anticipates a formidable Ginebra retaliation for which they must be ready.

The sides will now, at least, get two more days off before facing off once more in the third game of their race-to-four series, which is scheduled to take place in Dasmarinas, Cavite.

At 7:30 p.m., tipoff occurs. at the Arena in Dasmarinas.

Newsome is adamant that “you shouldn’t let your defenses down at any point.”
How to defeat coach Tim Cone as well as his Gin Kings in simultaneous circumstances is a persistent concern for Trillo.

“Winning consecutive games in a series is extremely difficult, especially when facing Ginebra,” remarked Trillo, whose chargers are currently even after losing their previous five games by a score of 92 to 88 on Friday.

“We understand we’re competent, and we understand we can, nonetheless we really have to be comprehensive in whatever we do. We know there are going to be struggles,” Trillo said.

“There’s certain things that we’re giving and additionally particular things that are being taken away. It’s best against seven scenarios. We believe that because we do the things that are better, we’ll stand a better chance,” and Trillo continued.

It comes down to competition in the end, and Trillo thinks, “We’re communicating a message through what we can.”

With bravery, poise, and calm, the Bolts battled and prevailed on Sunday. Despite wasting a 17-point lead, they managed to withstand a Christian Standhardinger storm, as the Bolts corrected course in the fourth quarter. Standhardinger’s career-high 41-point performance was negated.

“Our troops are okay with permitting one guy go off if that indicates that that everybody else is cold not being in rhythm ‘coz at the very end of the day, whatever the team wants is a win. At the end of the competition, if obviously the ones that came out on top, then we did our jobs well despite the amount of scoring our opponents had,” Newsome said.

After putting Meralco back ahead, Newsome, Chris Banchero, Allein Maliksi, and Raymond Almazan—one of Standhardinger’s many defenders—conjured up a 15 to 3 volley in the final 5:58 to secure the draw.

Lassiter approaches makes history

Marcio Lassiter’s quest to break the record for the most three-pointers made in PBA history is still ongoing. 

On Sunday night, the San Miguel gunner moved up the scale once more, taking the third spot on the current list behind LA Tenorio of Barangay Ginebra. 

The Beermen defeated the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters 106 to 89 to take a 2 to 0 lead in their best-of-seven semifinal series. Lassiter finished with 13 points on 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc.

With 1,219, the 37-year-old wingman’s total was higher than Tenorio’s 1,218, which dropped him to fourth place. 

Following two-time MVP James Yap and Ronnie Magsanoc who leads the all-time leaderboard in this conference alone, Tenorio is the third player Lassiter has surpassed.

But Lassiter respects the Barangay Ginebra squad leader beyond measure.

“Just to be in the precise same breath as LA, a single among the genuine heroes and most significant point guards in the Basketball Association of America, when I debuted to the league, it seemed that I looked toward him, so it’s wonderful to just be in the exact same sentence without him,” he continued.

Actually, he merely needs to make 23 shots to tie the all-time great Allan Caidic at number two (1,242), and 31 shots to go ahead of number one Jimmy Alapag (1,250).

The two gunners were legendary to Lassiter.