Jay R. Gotera Saudi Gazette MANILA — The Petron Blaze Boosters broke free from the shackles of the Meralco Bolts' zone defense after halftime to blast their way to a 77-73 victory Saturday night in the PLDT myDSL-PBA Philippine Cup road game at the Dipolog Sports Complex in Dipolog City, Zamboanga del Norte. Using the same ploy that allowed them to beat the much-fancied Barangay Ginebra Kings, the quicker Bolts employed a shifting zone defense on the taller Boosters that seemed to work just fine in the first half. With big man June Mar Fajardo bottled up in the paint by the stingy Meralco defense, the Boosters trailed by seven points, 20-27, in the second quarter, which ended with Meralco still on top, 37-34. But coming off the halftime break, the Boosters found a way to crack open the Bolts' defense. Petron head coach Gee Abanilla surprised everyone as he took out Fajardo and fielded in three guards – Alex Cabagnot, Marcio Lassiter and Chris Ross – to join agile big men Arwind Santos and Doug Kramer. Matching the Bolts' speed and hustle, the Boosters prevented Meralco from setting up its crippling zone defense as they began pulling away, opening up a huge 73-57 lead in the third quarter. Smothered on both ends of the court, the Bolts played valiantly, refusing to throw in the towel. Led by the fired-up John Wilson and Reynel Hugnatan, the Bolts kept chipping away at Petron's lead but ran out of time as they suffered their fourth loss in seven games. Cabagnot led Petron with 17 points, Lassiter scored 16 while Santos chipped in 14. Despite being the focus of Meralco's defense, Fajardo still managed to contribute 12 points on top of 19 huge rebounds and three blocks, earning for himself the Best Player of the Game award. Wilson and Gary David led the Bolts with 16 points apiece while Hugnatan and Rabeh Al-Hussaini added 13 points apiece. Despite the loss, Meralco remained at solo sixth place in the standings, ahead of Barako Bull (2-4), Alaska (2-5), San Mig Coffee (1-5) and Air21 (1-6). Games Tuesday: SanMig Coffee vs. Barako Bull and Talk ‘N Text vs. Rain or Shine.
