By Adrian Stewart Co

The Meralco Bolts secured a spot in the 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals following their 94-84 win over Alaska Aces last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Allen Durham flirted with a triple-double for Meralco with 28 points, 16 rebounds, and eight assists; while Allein Maliksi scored 23 points; and Chris Newsome added 17.
The Bolts surged to a 13-0 start with hits from Newsome and Baser Amer to take a 29-12 edge. The Aces then rallied to within 33-23 but Meralco leaned on Durham for a 49-33 halftime edge.
The Aces clawed their way back to within 61-58 midway in the third but conversions from Maliksi and Anjo Caram gave the Bolts a 73-63 lead heading into the fourth.
Alaska made their final push in the fourth and trimmed the deficit to 79-75 but Meralco went for the kill with shots from Durham and Raymond Almazan to make it a double-digit edge./ASC, WDJ