ALASKA's trapping defense was simply unbreakable last time for Rain or Shine. But not against Meralco this time.

The Bolts, relying heavily on their second stringers, executed their offense very well throughout the game and downed the Aces, 89-80, in Season 46 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup at the Ynares Arena on Saturday in Pasig City.

It was also Meralco's defense that clamped Alaska's offense all along, forcing the Aces to shoot an atrocious 26-of-71 from the field while registering 32-of-83 shooting on the other hand. Another factor was the Aces' poor free throw shooting (21-of-30). Meralco shot 18 free throws in 22 attempts.

And Meralco veteran head coach Norman Black has nothing but praise for his players.  

"I thought once again we played well defensively, we held the Alaska team down as far as offense is concerned. We got a big lift from a lot of players today," Black said, who commended Nards Pinto, rookie Alvin Pasaol, Aaron Black, Chris Newsome, Raymond Almazan and Cliff Hodge for their outstanding effort.

"It's a good effort from everybody. A lot of contributions from different players coming from a lot of different areas."

Pinto knocked in 16 points while Newsome had an all-around performance highlighted with 14 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Pasaol, the ninth overall pick in this year's rookie draft, made his presence felt in the payoff canto by posting 11 of his 13 points in addition to his two steals.

Raymond Almazan added 12 points and eight rebounds also for the Bolts, who cruised to back-to-back wins for a 4-2 win-loss record.

Alaska came within 58-62 after Maverick Ahanmisi's lay-up early in the fourth. But Pasaol's two three-point bombs and Black's lay-up put Meralco up by 70-60 with still 8:50 to go. The Bolts controlled the game from thereon despite Ahanmisi's 14 of his 16 points in the last quarter.

Gab Banal led the Aces with 20 points, but couldn't carry his team to a win. Alaska, three days after limiting the Elasto painters to just 48 points, fell to 2-3 win-loss record.

That 48-point is Rain or Shine's lowest scoring output in its 15-year franchise history and the second lowest output by any PBA team in history after Shell's 47-point output recorded in the 2000 Philippine Cup where it lost to Mobiline, 47-79, 21 years ago in Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

Meanwhile, two games – Blackwater-Phoenix Super LPG on Saturday and San Miguel Beer-Ginebra San Miguel on Sunday – were postponed as part of the health and safety protocols of the league.    

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