By ADRIAN STEWART CO

The Meralco Bolts turned things around in the second half to pull off a 93-86 Game 1 shocker against the San Miguel Beermen in the PBA Philippine Cup finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday night, June 5.

Trailing 44-51 at the half, the Bolts opened the third quarter with a 9-0 run behind a three-point play by Chris Newsome and back-to-back three-pointers from Kier John Quinto to take a 53-51 lead.

Meralco continued their run with conversions from Newsome and Anjo Caram to snatch a 70-66 advantage, but the Beermen responded with six straight points from June Mar Fajardo and Jaymar Perez for a slim 72-70 upper hand.

The Bolts maintained the momentum in the final quarter with hits from Clifford Hodge, Raymond Almazan and Quinto for a 79-75 lead.

The Beermen cut the deficit to 77-79, but back-to-back shots by Brandon Bates and Almazan gave the Bolts an 83-77 edge.

The Beermen tried to remain within striking distance at 83-89, but the Bolts answered with timely connections from Almazan and Chris Banchero to complete the series-opener stunner.

Newsome and Banchero finished with 18 markers apiece, while Quinto and Allein Maliksi contributed 15 points each as the Bolts took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven title series.

Ilonggo Caram also made his presence felt in the second half to contribute nine markers, while Hodge hauled 15 rebounds to go with seven points and two assists for the Bolts.

“We really had a game plan [against the Beermen], and we felt we were not able to follow that in the first half. They were beating us in a lot of categories [in the first half],” Bolts head coach Luigi Trillo said.

“I think we came out in the second half by doing what we [wanted] to do. There are things that we want to limit them [Beermen], and we were able to do that well in the final two quarters,” he added.

Fajardo posted a double-double of 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead the defending champions Beermen, while Perez and Marcio Lassiter contributed 20 and 16 points, respectively./ASC, WDJ

MERALCO 93 — Newsome 18, Banchero 18, Maliksi 15, Quinto 15, Caram 9, Almazan 8, Hodge 7, Bates 2, Pascual 1, Torres 0, Jose 0, Dario 0, Pasaol 0.

SAN MIGUEL 86 — Fajardo 23, Perez 20, Lassiter 16, Trollano 9, Tautuaa 5, Cruz 5, Brondial 4, Teng 4, Ross 0, Enciso 0.

Quarterscores: 19-20, 44-51, 70-72, 93-86.