MANILA — Meralco import Andre Emmett unleashed the lightning bolts that struck the Star Hotshots in the endgame as the Bolts blacked out the defending champion, 83-81, Sunday night in the PBA Governors' Cup. Meralco thus improved to a 2-2 win-loss record, tying San Miguel Beer at fourth to fifth spot in the standings. Emmett poured 37 points, including two back-to-back baskets with just 3:27 left and the score tied at 77-all. After Star's Marc Pingris scored on a putback to cut Meralco's lead to two, 81-79, Emmett once again rose to the occasion by stealing the ball that led to a Danny Ildefonso basket, restoring a four-point lead for the Bolts, 83-79. The Hotshots once again cut the Bolts' lead to two with an Alex Mallari shot with 45 ticks left. After Meralco turned the ball over, the Star had a chance to equalize but Joe Devance missed on drive. The Hotshots forced the Bolts to commit another turnover to regain possession with 4.2 seconds left. Import Marqus Blakely could not penetrate amid an air-tight Meralco defense, forcing the veteran Star import to take a hurried three-point shot that missed its mark as time expired, preserving Meralco's victory. The Hotshots and Bolts engaged in a fierce skirmish with both exchanging leads all game long. The highest lead was at six points, 42-36, which the Hotshots erected in the second quarter. Aside from his points production, Emmett also hauled down 15 rebounds, and made six assists and five steals. Asian import Seiya Ando from Japan was the only other Bolt to finish in double digits scoring 11 points off the bench. Blakely led the Hotshots with 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists. His contributions were overshadowed, however, by the 10 turnovers he committed. Devance and Mallari added 15 and 13 points, respectively for Star. The Hotshots absorbed their second straight game for a 1-2 record, tying the NLEX Road Warriors at eighth to ninth place in the standings. San Miguel Beer 124, GlobalPort 102 Still smarting from their humbling 0-2 start in the conference, the San Miguel Beermen registered their first back-to-back victory with a 124-102 thrashing of the erstwhile unbeaten GlobalPort Batang Pier. The Beermen nailed their first win at the expense of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters last Tuesday. Arizona Reid and Marcio Lassiter sparked a huge SMB breakaway in the third quarter that buried the Batang Pier into a pit too deep for them to get out of. Reid led all scorers with 41 points while Lassiter posted 24 markers. The duo combined for 35 of SMB's 41-point production in the third quarter alone Chris Ross added 17 points while Alex Cabagnot chipped in 12 markers. Stand-in Globalport import Steve Thomas finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds, three steals, two blocks, and two assists. Top GlobalPort gunner Terrence Romeo also scored 21 points. Games Monday: NLEX Road Warriors vs. Kia Carnival and Talk N Text Tropang Texters vs. Alaska Aces.
