LA REVILLA came to the rescue for Mahindra, blocking Jimmy Alapag’s elbow trey at the buzzer as the Enforcers escaped with a thrilling 86-83 win over Meralco to snap a four-game losing streak in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Revilla’s defensive stop denied the Bolts of sending the game in overtime and sent Meralco to a league-worst 1-7 win-loss mark.
With Rabeh Al Hussaini fouling out in the 2:02 minutes left in the game, the Enforcers capitalized on his absence as Revilla scored on a crucial floater over three defenders with 1:42 left in the game to build an 82-76.
The Enforcers were still holding an 86-60 lead then Alapag knocked down a triple to pull them within three, 83-86 with 8.9 seconds remaining.
The Bolts had another chance to steal the game after rookie Chris Newsome forced a turnover from an inbound play of Meralco Head Coach Norman Black called a timeout.
But Revilla was there to avoid the collapse as he deflected the three-point attempt of Alapag and gave his team the much-needed victory and tied Star in the team standings with 2-6 mark apiece.
“We live and die with our defense today,” Mahindra Assistant Coach Chito Victolero said. “We prepared very hard and I told my players it’s about mental toughness. And I’m happy the boys responded to the challenge.”
Aldrech Ramos led the Enforcers with 15 points and nine rebounds, while Yee added 24.