Bolts light up in conference debut, deal FiberXers second straight loss

Marvin Jones and CJ Cansino caught fire in the second half as Meralco raced past Converge, 109-88, on Wednesday night at the Ynares Center in the PBA 50th Season Commissioner's Cup.

The Bolts turned a close first-quarter battle into a commanding lead in the third, with Jones dropping 29 points and grabbing eight rebounds, while Cansino added 23 points and eight assists.

The duo sparked an 8-0 run that put Meralco ahead 63-52, a lead they never relinquished.

In the fourth, Jones nailed a key triple and Cansino hit two consecutive threes to stretch the lead to 97-79.

Meralco overcame an early 27-22 deficit to take control, showing improved defense and fluid ball movement as the game progressed.

“They did well in the first quarter, but we started settling in,” said Meralco coach Luigi Trillo. “It's their third game, may amuyan sila sa court. Kami it's our first game. Our first game isn't written in stone. We are not 100 percent in our flow. But we did better, defended better, and moved the ball better over the course of the game.”

Chris Newsome chipped in 19 points and five assists, while Javee Mocon scored nine in his Bolts debut.

Converge, missing Juan Gomez de Liano due to injury, fought hard but fell behind 77-57 in the third quarter.

Alec Stockton had 18 points, and Justin Arana recorded 16 points and 11 rebounds, but the FiberXers couldn’t close the gap, suffering their second straight loss and slipping to a 1-2 conference record.