Cliff Hodge of Meralco in action against Blackwater in the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup, October 15, 2025 at the Araneta Coliseum. PBA Media
MANILA (UPDATED) – The Meralco Bolts get their first win at the expense of the Blackwater Bossing, 105-96, on Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
The Bolts started off the game with an 8-0 run, before the Bossing managed to cut the lead down to five at the end of the first quarter, 29-24.
It was all Meralco in the second half, with the Bolts leading by as much as 24 points.
But in the third quarter, the Bossing kept their hopes alive after lowering the deficit to a single digit, 79-72.
Chris Newsome sparked a run for Meralco and never looked back, putting an end to their two game skid to start the season.
"We did enough to win the game. But you have to credit Blackwater also for being resilient and you know getting the lead down to six points," Meralco head coach Luigi Trillo said during the post-game press conference.
"They're a handful now with [Dalph] Panopio, [Christian] David and [Sedrick] Barefield. We kinda managed David and Panopio but Barefield was hard to stop," he added.
Newsome powered the Bolts with 22 points, from 6 of 9 field goal shooting.
"For us it's keeping the big picture in mind at all times. It's always tough if you lose heartbreakers like that. It's still early in the season, you never know what happens the rest of the season," Newsome said.
"Two losses it's tough but I think it's more about the mental state and keeping everybody in the right mind frame so we can continue to learn from those losses and move forward," he added.
Five other Meralco players tallied double digits – Cliff Hodge chipped in 14 markers, Brandon Bates and Allein Maliksi had 13 points each, Raymond Almazan tallied 12 markers and 8 rebounds, while Aaron Black had 11 points, 6 boards and 2 assists.
The loss spoiled the first outing this season of Sedrick Barefield, who dropped 34 points including seven triples and two steals.
RK Ilagan pitched in 22 markers, while Abu Tratter added 11 points and 6 rebounds in a losing effort.
Trillo said Meralco is bracing for a tough schedule ahead as they face Barangay Ginebra on Friday, the Magnolia Hotshots on Sunday and then head to Japan for the East Asia Super League (EASL).
"We’ve gotta come out and play our game. And it's gonna test our resilience dahil sunod-sunod yung laro namin, right?" he said.
Blackwater aims to bounce back against Rain or Shine on October 23.