Norman Black, Meralco, seek to force do-or-die Game 7 against Ginebra

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Despite trailing the finals 2-3, head coach Norman Black and the Meralco Bolts are not giving up on what they worked for in the past five months.

Meralco had the chance to inch closer to the PBA Governor’s Cup championship title but lost back-to-back games after leading the series 2-1.

During those losses, Ginebra was able to establish a double-digit lead but the gritty Meralco squad would always come back and cut the deficit to single digits.

“It takes four wins to win the championship. They’ve only won three games. I’m not giving up, my players aren’t giving up. We still have a chance at tying the series,” said coach Black.

During the thrilling Game 5 action, Meralco was close to handing Ginebra a sorry loss when they rallied from 14 points down and cut it down to only a point.

However, the Best Player of the Conference awardee Scottie Thompson provided clutch play after clutch play that broke the hearts of the Bolts.

Also, Christian Standhardinger found his touch from the perimeter which became a large factor in the series and helped him average double-digit scoring in all five games.

Meralco still has a chance as they got a consistent series from their import Tony Bishop who can match Brownlee’s inside and outside game as well as their big guards who can bully LA Tenorio, Jeff Chan, and Thompson at the post.

Chris Newsome, Allein Maliksi, Aaron Black, and Bong Quinto, four of the ex-factors that helped Meralco shut down the no.1 seed Magnolia Hotshots also came out firing in the finals but suffered from inconsistency.

Meralco will look to push Ginebra to a do-or-die Game 7 when they play today at 6 PM, and will also seek to redeem themselves after losing their last finals meeting when Allen Durham was their import.