Maliksi lights up from the bench as Meralco jolts Alaska for first bubble win

Forward Allein Maliksi led Meralco's reserves for Bolts' first win in the PBA Philippine Cup after a wire-to-wire 93-81 win over Alaska inside the bubble at the AUF Arena in Angeles, Pampanga Wednesday evening.

The former UST stalwart led Norman Black's bench mob as he leads them with 17 points on an efficient 6/9 field goal shooting, with their second unit outscored the Aces' reserves by sixteen in the process to even their record after dropping their opening assignment to Phoenix two days ago.

Baser Amer and Reynel Hugnatan pitched in with 15 and 13 respectably for Meralco, who led for the entire game, leading by as much as 19 with a 15-0 blitz that bridged between the third and fourth periods to go 1-1 in the tournament.

Cliff Hodge was the other Bolt in double digits with eleven as every player fielded in by the Grand Slam-winning mentor scored.

Jeron Teng led Alaska with a 25-point, 7-rebound production but despite having more points off turnovers, they cannot prevent them in going to the cellar at 0-2, losing in succession to a pair of MVP franchises.

The scores:

Meralco 93 -- Maliksi 17, Amer 15, Hugnatan 13, Hodge 11, Black 8, Newsome 6, Jose 6, Quinto 5, Pinto 5, Almazan 5, Faundo 2

Alaska 81 -- Teng 25, Manuel 18, Herndon 8, Publico 8, DiGregorio 6, Tratter 6, Brondial 5, Galliguez 3, Ayaay 2, Casio 0, Ebona 0, Andrada 0

Quarter scores: 29-23, 49-35, 65-58, 93-81

PHOTO: PBA