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| Ismael Romero had another monster game for Meralco. EASL |
LUCENA--Meralco completed a regular season sweep of Macau in the EASL after a 93-91 win in their second meeting on Saturday night at The Capital Arena in Ilagan.
Despite being the designated road team, the Bolts gave their fans in the said city a delight as they held on even if Damian Chongqui tried to steal the win late for the Black Bears.
With his team down, 86-93, with a minute and a half remaining, Chongqui scored five straight points to cut the deficit to two with 32 seconds left.
His teammates then forced a stop as Sina Vahedi missed a potential dagger three with Torrence Watson grabbing the rebound.
However, Vahedi and Newsome made good use of Meralco's fouls, leading to Ismael Romero disrupting Macau's last dash by stealing the ball from Phoenix Shackleford.
Romero led the Bolts to a 3-2 record in Group B with 24 points, 17 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, and 2 steals.
Vahedi added 23 points, one rebound, five assists, and three steals.
Justin Brownlee, in his much-anticipated EASL debut, had 12 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, and one steal.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was on track for an explosive game with 15 points, four rebounds, seven assists, and one block two and a half quarters in, but he badly hurt his foot with 5:37 left in the third quarter and never returned.
Omari Peek-Green led the Black Bears, who fell to 0-2, with 26 points, 11 rebounds, one assist, and one steal, but he had four turnovers as well.
Chongqui and Shackleford each added 24 points, while Sam Deguara had 11 markers, 13 boards, two dimes, and two blocks in his EASL debut.
Meanwhile, New Taipei delayed Ulaanbaatar's outright entry to the EASL playoffs with a 109-94 win at the Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei.
Jalen Harris exploded for 35 points on 12-of-18 shooting with four rebounds and three assists for the Kings, who moved up to 3-2 in Group C.
Jason Washburn added 30 points on 13-of-20 shooting, 10 rebounds, one assist, three blocks, and two steals.
Joseph Lin contributed 23 points on 9-for-16 shooting, including 4-of-6 on threes, seven rebounds, four assists, one steal, and one block.
Omoefay Johnson led the Broncos, who lost for the first time after a 3-0 start, with 29 points, 18 rebounds, and one steal.
Barsbold Baatar-erdene, Azbayar Altangerel, and Ian Miller each had 10 points, with Miller also dishing out 10 assists.
Ulaanbaatar has another chance to seal a postseason appearance in only its first EASL campaign when it travels to Changwon to take on Carl Tamayo and the still winless Sakers on Tuesday night.
