Akil Mitchell (ball) had a strong third quarter, helping keep Eastern form at bay. He finished with 31 points. — AUGUST DELA CRUZ
With most of their players back in form and winning to start 2025, Meralco hopes to use each teams as springboards to regain their winning streak in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
“It’s important for us to have our guys back so they can get their feet wet,” coach Luigi Trillo said after the Bolts’ 88-83 victory over Eastern during the midseason conference resume Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
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Meralco ended its two-game skid and was 4-2 midway through the qualifying round, led by import Akil Mitchell with 31 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and seven steals.
The Bolts ended 2024 on a bad note, suffering a surprise loss to struggling Blackwater Bossing before losing to Converge FiberXers on Christmas Day. These two losses were also joined by a loss to Busan KGC Egis in the East Asia Super League.
Injuries have contributed to these woes, but the Bolts at the moment are near full strength with Chris Banchero, Brandon Bates, Raymond Almazan and rookie CJ Cansino in uniform. Only Allein Maliksi continues to be struggling after returning to the injured list with bone spurs.
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Tight schedule
Meralco would really like to reap the benefits of recent developments and have a packed schedule of games against TNT on Tuesday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City and NLEX on Friday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
“Every game this week will be difficult,” Trillo said. “But [the holiday break] was a bit good for us as we had a few days off, especially Akil.”
Mitchell returned to his early form after a broken nose forced him to miss games and wear a black mask for cover.
His play shall be key, especially in the face of formidable import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson from TNT and powerful Donovan Smith from Phoenix.
On Sunday, Mitchell struggled against Eastern import Chris McLaughlin, who had 28 points, 18 rebounds, three assists, two steals and 4 blocks.
However, Eastern fell to 6-3 despite recovering in the fourth quarter and even taking the lead. But Meralco was stubborn.
Bong Quinto’s 16 points played a key role, and Chris Newsome, Aaron Black and Cliff Hodge had great performances on each side against Eastern.
Trillo and lively consultant Nenad Vucinic defeated eastern counterpart Mensur Bajramovic, who faced his good friend Vucinic for the first time in history.
Vucinic revealed that he and Bajramović have been friends since childhood, but lost contact due to the Bosnian war in the mid-Nineteen Nineties. Vucinic is Serbian and Bajramovic is Bosnian.
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“He is like a brother to me and training against him was very difficult and emotional for me today,” Vucinic said.
