Meralco stays in hunt with 106-77 rout of Air21

It was all over in the opening half, until things turned hot in the third period, but not because of great plays on the floor.
Meralco ripped Air21 right in the first two quarters behind Mario West, who also showed his bad side immediately after a 106-77 ripping of the Express last night that kept the Bolts in the running for a playoff berth in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
West scored 26 points in the first half and finished with a PBA career-high 34 in leading the Bolts to their third win in seven games before charging at the Air21 locker room after the final buzzer and almost igniting a free-for-all.
The versatile Meralco import did that in obvious retaliation to a hard foul taken from Ogie Menor early in the third period, when he was decked by a wayward forearm while going on a drive and the game already out of reach for the Express.
Menor was thrown out for the third time this season and is facing a hefty fine and a suspension.
The ejection of Menor frustrated West even more, as he never had the chance to return the favor to the Air21 forward. And his next move surprised everyone, as he ran the length of the floor and headed straight to the Air21 dugout to find Menor. Menor, meanwhile, saw West from afar while chatting with utility personnel of the TV crew and immediately fled the coliseum and headed straight to the parking lot.
West, meanwhile, was tangled up by Air21 personnel inside the dugout, and in the heat of the commotion, one Meralco player allegedly hit Express team manager Jovvie Saddul at the back of the head.
Meralco coach Ryan Gregorio did his best in trying to downplay what happened.
“He ran to the (Air21) dugout to shake the hand of Ogie, I think that was what was in his mind,” Gregorio said with a smile.
West also finished with seven rebounds and seven steals, with four of those swipes coming in the first period where the Bolts took leads of as many as 22.
Meralco established several franchise marks in the win, with its 21-0 opening salvo tying the fifth all-time mark in streaks. The 29-point victory was also the best for the team in its two seasons in the PBA.
“We played so well in the first quarter, not giving our opponent a chance to even breathe,” Gregorio said.
The loss was the fifth in six games for the Express, who all but bowed out for the third straight time this season despite getting 34 points from Zach Graham.
Talk ‘N Text, meanwhile, rose to 3-3 in the standings also after a one-sided victory over Barako Bull, 109-89, where Jason Castro came off the bench to shoot 23 points.
The Energy got 25 points from former two-time MVP Willie Miller and 20 from Leroy Hickerson but still fell for the second straight game and dropped into the lower half of the draw with a 3-4 record.
“Yeah, I think we played much better today in terms of putting together 48 minutes of good basketball,” Talk ‘N Text coach Chot Reyes said. “In our last game, against Alaska, I think we pretty much screwed up the last eight minutes.”
The Tropang Texters climbed to .500 again with their second straight win after Larry Fonacier hit all of his three triple tries to wind up with 20 points and Ranidel de Ocampo and Ali Peek combining for another 21.
“We still have a long climb. Our next game is against (Barangay) Ginebra and that will be a very big game for us,” Reyes continued. “We must continue to put our heads down and keep plodding.”