By Adrian Stewart Co

The Meralco Bolts erased a 21-point deficit to score an 88-77 victory over TNT KaTropa in the 2019 Honda PBA Philippine Cup last night at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.

Chris Newsome led the win with 20 points and nine rebounds, while Baser Amer and Jared Dillinger added 17 and 16, respectively.

In their comeback, the Bolts relied on conversions from Newsome, Clifford Hodge, and Ranidel de Ocampo to seize a 52-50 advantage on a three-pointer by Amer in the third period.

The Bolts then took control of the match with Amer and Dillinger spearheading the attack to tally its largest lead of 79-60 on five straight points by Newsome.

KaTropa made its last push and was able to come to as close as 68-81 but back-to-back triples by Newsome and Antonio Jose Caram extended the Bolts lead back to 16 points./ASC, WDJ