Meralco Bolts guard Bong Quinto in the PBA Philippine Cup. –PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—Meralco lost star guard Chris Newsome with 2:32 left in regulation in its 121-117 win over Rain or Shine in the PBA Philippine Cup.
In the dying minutes of what would be an insufficient regulation, Newsome fouled out of the ball game which pushed the Bolts to look for a savior.
Enter Bong Quinto.
Quinto finished with 16 points in the win that put Meralco at 1-1 in the standings. The best part about his performance, though, is the fact that 11 of his scoring output came in the fourth period.
SCHEDULE: 2024 PBA Philippine Cup
“I was just ready for whatever opportunity was waiting because all of us can’t fight for the ball always, it had to be give-and-take,” said Quinto in Filipino at Araneta Coliseum on Saturday.
“When Newnew graduated, I talked to Allein (Maliksi). I told him, ‘Lein, experience,’ because Rain or Shine is such a young team, right? They kept running so every possession we had to be mentally ready.”
Maliksi, did indeed, lock in with Quinto to deny the Elasto Painters their first win of the conference, finishing with a team-high 26 points.
READ: PBA: Clutch Bong Quinto carries Meralco to OT win over Rain or Shine
Coach Luigi Trillo saw the exact moment that Quinto told Maliksi to let their experiences take over.
And the tactician couldn’t help but marvel at the progression of the Letran product from “one of the youngest players” to “one of the leaders.”
“Bong’s like one of our leaders. Before, he was one of the youngest guys. But now, you can see his maturity. He talks to people, he calms guys down and I think that’s significant for our team. You need guys like that coming in,” said Trillo.
Meralco’s Bong Quinto and coach Luigi Trillo after the overtime win over Rain or Shine. | @MeloFuertesINQ pic.twitter.com/yDehTNhGQL
— INQUIRER Sports (@INQUIRERSports) March 2, 2024
Trillo also lauded the opportunities opened up by Quinto by attacking the paint despite it being guarded by veteran bigs Gabe Norwood and Beau Belga.
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“Bong was another point of attack for us. We went to the post when Newnew (Newsome), who was handling the ball in our pick and rolls, was gone, we went to Bong. You saw in the end that we trusted him a lot. He made sound decisions and luckily, we got the win.”
Newsome prematurely exited the game with a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.