Stuns Meralco in come-from-behind fashion

Willie Miller exploded for 33 points but it was his rookie teammates who completed Globalport’s big fightback as Batang Pier stunned the Meralco Bolts, 105-104, for their first win in the 38th PBA Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena last night.

Rookies Jason Deutchman, AJ Mandani and Vic Manuel played like veterans in the cardiac game as they conspired for three crucial plays in the homestretch to lead Globalport to its first win after dropping its first three games.

The trio’s brilliant endgame contribution preserved the game-long brilliance of Miller, whose output made him the 25th member of the 6,000-point club.

Globalport was on the brink of staying winless after it fell behind by 14 points, 80-94, with 7:42 left.

Globalport rolled with the punches and struck hard when Meralco lowered its guard in the closing minutes with a, 14-5 run to move to within 94-99 before the 6-foot-7 Deutchman torched the Bolts with his outside sniping.

Deutchman buried a three-pointer from the left elbow that cut Meralco’s lead, 97-99, with 1:40. Solomon Mercado air-balled a shot from the top of the key before the Fil-Am forward drilled another three-point from almost the same spot, giving Globalport a, 100-99, lead with 1:13 remaining.

Meralco had two chances of regaining the lead but Macmac Cardona missed a shot from the paint. Cliff Hodge collared the offensive rebounds but his follow-up attempt was swatted by Manuel.

Mandani secured the leather before scooting away for fastbreak layup while being fouled by Ronjay Buenafe with 17 seconds left.

The six-footer Mandani, also a Fil-Am, completed the three-pointer play, giving Batang Pier a four-point cushion, 103-99.

Globalport couldn’t deliver the finishing blows right away when it failed to secure the rebound after back-to-back misses by Sunday Salvacion from the three-point arc. The Bolts stayed in the game when their third crack at the basket resulted to a Buenafe three-pointer, bringing them within 102-103 with 5.3 seconds left.

Rabeh Al-Hussaini dropped two crucial free throws in the final 4.5 seconds, restoring a three-point lead for Globalport.

Already out of timeout, the Bolts inbounded the ball to Mercado, who uncharacteristically went for a layup at the buzzer instead of going for triple that could forced overtime.

Deutchman finished with 20 points, Al-Hussaini had 17 markers, while Mandani had 12 in Glen Capacio’s first win as a PBA head coach.

Mercado and Buenafe both scored 30 markers but Meralco saw its two-game win streak come to an end and dropped to 2-2 (win-loss).

BOX SCORES

GLOBALPORT (105)- Miller 33, Deutchman 20, Al-Hussaini 17, Mandani 12, Manuel 6, Guevarra 6, Yee 5, Vanlandingham 4, Salvador 2, Lingganay 0, Cruz 0, Antonio 0.

MERALCO (104)- Mercado 30, Buenafe 30, Hodge 15, Reyes 7, Nabong 6, Hugnatan 5, Artadi 4, Salvacion 3, Belencion 2, Cardona 2, Bulawan 0, Borboran 0, Sharma 0. QUARTERSCORES: 25-25, 52-48, 76-87, 105-104.