“Sinabi ko lang sa kanila kanina, you can’t outplay them, just outworked them,” said Meralco’s coach, Patrick Fran.

“And don’t stop defending. They’re a very good team. And they’re our national team, to tell you honestly. So sabi ko lang just play your hearts out,” he added.

With only half-court to battle on, Meralco and TNT went relentless, having no time for each team to skip a big gap but that didn’t last as Meralco went to a four-point deficit, 5-9.

However, that did not last as Alfred Batino made four straight boards to tie the game 9-9 to shake the game plan of TNT.

Bolstered by Dexter Maiquez and Toni Gonzaga, they lead the team with 6 points and 5 points, respectively adding the five points coming from Batino.

TNT was able to close the gap in closing 14-16 but that was not enough to stop the bolts of Meralco.

Meralco bagged the win and the P100,000 prize while TNT went home with P50,000 pocket.

The Scores: 

Meralco 17 – Maiquez 6, Gonzaga 5, Batino 5, Sedurifa 1 

Limitless 14 – Napoles 6, Caduyac 5, Rosser 3, Hayes 0.