Tony Bishop delivers anew as Meralco edges TNT

Tony Bishop outplayed McKenzie Moore, but the Bolts still had to grind it out against the Tropang Giga. PBA Images

By Ivan Saldajeno

PASAY--Tony Bishop dominated anew for Meralco especially in the endgame as the team walked away with an 83-80 win over TNT in their PBA Governors' Cup clash at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

Bishop led everyone in scoring with 36 points for the Bolts, but none was more important than five straight points that broke a 76-all tie and gave them the lead for good.

But the Tropang Giga still gave them a scare in the end.

After a Cliff Hodge split from the line, TNT scored four straight points, a pair of charities from Jayson Castro and a floater from Mikey Williams that cut the lead down to two, 82-80, with 38 seconds left.

The team then forced Hodge to a three-pointer with the shot-clock winding that he badly missed, but Bishop collected a crucial offensive rebound as Meralco appeared to have closed out the game.

Chris Newsome, however, settled for a split from the free-throw line, and the Tropang Giga had 9.1 seconds to possibly force overtime.

Kelly Williams had a chance to do so, but his three-point attempt rimmed out as time expired.

Bishop also grabbed 17 rebounds along with three assists and one steal as the Bolts are now tied with the Magnolia Hotshots for third place at 2-0.

Newsome added 15 points, five rebounds, four assists, and one block.

RR Pogoy fired 25 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block to lead the Tropang Giga before sitting out the last 1:06 of the game due to severe cramps.

Mikey Williams added 24 markers, three boards, and four dimes.

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