Durham sparks Bolts to key victory over Mahindra

Norman Black once called Allen Durham “a horse” because of his tireless effort in trying to win games for Meralco.
On Sunday night, Black’s thoroughbred carried the Bolts to a crucial win that kept Meralco in the running for a twice-to-beat privilege in the first round of the PBA’s season-ending Governors’ Cup playoffs.
Durham hit a turnaround jumper with 46 seconds remaining that ushered the Bolts to the lead for good, keying an 86-83 victory over Mahindra as Meralco earned at least a playoff for the No. 4 spot and the last quarterfinal bonus at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
“It’s nice to win a close game for a change,” Black said after his Bolts closed out with a 6-5 card, tied momentarily with their victims. “The ball bounced our way today, and that’s what matters most.”
Mahindra, which bungled a third straight chance to put a twice-to-beat privilege away, will now have to beat a higher-ranked enemy two straight times in the quarterfinals to make the Final Four.
TNT KaTropa, meanwhile, sustained its pursuit of top ranking with a 115-105 ripping of also-ran Star in the main game as Jason Castro and Larry Fonacier tossed in 21 points each in leading a balanced attack by the Texters.
The star-studded Hotshots, who were without former two-time MVP James Yap for the second straight game, dropped to 2-8, having a game remaining to do something positive before formally bowing out for the season.
There are three other teams which can catch Meralco at 6-5 to forge a playoff for the last twice-to-beat advantage.
NLEX, Alaska and Phoenix Petroleum are all at 5-5, with the Road Warriors and the Aces slugging it out on Friday with the winner keeping their hopes alive.
The Fuel Masters, who are 5-2 ever since Eugene Phelps arrived, take on Barangay Ginebra on Wednesday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo, with a win putting them into a tie with Meralco and the winner of the Alaska-NLEX game.
Meralco will be awaiting a foe since it beat all three of those teams in the eliminations, and in the event of a tie between the Aces or the Road Warriors and Phoenix, the team with the best quotient will advance to play the Bolts in the KO match.
The loser of that playoff game will drop to No. 5 and will face the winner of that match, with the eventual No. 4 needing to win just once to make the semifinals.
TNT, second-running Barangay Ginebra and No. 3 San Miguel have all booked twice-to-beat privileges, with the results of their remaining games to determine their respective rankings and who they play in the quarterfinals.
The Texters and the Gin Kings will still clash in the final game of the elimination round on Sept. 18 at the Alonte Sports Center in Binan, Laguna, and if Ginebra beats Phoenix on Wednesday, that match will be for top ranking.
Finishing No. 1 would mean practically the lightest first round assignment, which would be No. 8. Number 2 slugs it out with No. 7 and the third seed battles the sixth-ranked team.
James White fired 27 points and had 12 boards, but Mahindra couldn’t get another player from its starting crew to contribute heavily on the offensive end.
Jared Dillinger hit three triples and finished with 12 points, with rookie Chris Newsome starting out at the point for Black and chipping in with 10.
Larry Fonacier and Jason Castro, who were part of the Gilas Pilipinas team that finished second to Iran in the Manila Fiba Asia, fired 21 points each to pace the Texters.
There were four others who finished in twin digits for Jong Uichico, with rookie Mo Tautuaa, who like Fonacier stepped off the bench, shooting 16 and import Mychal Ammons firing 14 points that went with 17 rebounds and two assists.
Joel Wright had 27 points, 17 boards and five feeds to lead Star.

Source: Arab News