After a lopsided opening-day loss at the hands of Shabab Al Ahli in the Basketball Champions League Asia, the Meralco Bolts bounced back and defeated Utsunomiya Brex on June 8, 2025, to secure a spot in the quarterfinals
Familiarity Issue Amongst Reinforcements?
In their 1st game against the Shabab Al Ahli, it can be noticed that the 3 reinforcements that Head Coach Luigi Trillo asked to be part of the team still needs some time to get used to his system.
The imports of the Bolts are: Jordon Varnado, Glynn Watson Jr., and John Egbunu.
During the 2nd quarter, Meralco was able to build a good lead 54-43 only for their host team to make a rally and made the game more interesting. In the late 3rd quarter, it was actually a close ball game with Shabab Al Ahli only leading by a point, 73-72.
And then, PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup champions then slowly lost control of the game up until the 4th quarter. In the scoring in the final period, Meralco also lost, 22-13.
Final Score: 101 – 87
In the story of Justine Bacnis of Tiebreaker Times, here’s what Active Consultant Nenad Vucinic has to say about the chemistry of the team:
“It was difficult for us to get some cohesion because we were just joined by three players — at the moment we’re playing in the Philippines without any foreign player,”
“We got three good players but it’s very hard to get cohesion,” he added. “We’re hoping as the tournament goes that we’re gonna get better.”
Currently, Nenad Vucinic is the assigned Head Coach of Meralco in the BCL Asia and not Luigi Trillo.
In the story of Reuben Terrado from Spin.ph, here’s what the former Gilas interim Head Coach has to say in the teams opening loss performance:
“(Al Ahl) deserved to win. They really played well offensively. They gave us a lot of problems. They shot the ball extremely well from the three-point line. Did well in transition as well, which was partially was our fault as well,”
Al Ahli shot 10-18 (56%) from the rainbow country while their imports, Deshawndre Washington nailed 3-6 and Jermaine Love had 22 points along with 2 three pointers.
Courtesy of: FIBA Basketball
Chris Newsome, the main guy for the side of Meralco, only tallied 15 points in his 6-9 shooting from the field despite going 2/2 from beyond the arc. The second local scorer for the team was Chris Banchero with 11 points along with 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
The 6-foot-6 forward Jordon Vardano led the Philippine based squad in his 19 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists. The 6-feet tall guard Glynn Watson Jr. shared the backcourt duties with Newsome as she tallied 19 points, 3 boards, 3 dimes and 2 steals. Lastly, the 6-foot-11 center John Egbunu recorded a double-double of 12 points, 11 boards along with 2 assists.
Defeated the B. League Champions to Advance in the Quarterfinals
To advance in the quarterfinals of the tournament, the Bolts must win against the recently named B League champions from Japan, Utsunomiya Brex. They won a Game 7 series just last May 27 2025.
In this must win scenario for Meralco, Newsome decided not to put so much effort in his scoring but rather just focus on playmaking and controlling the tempo of their offense.
During the 2nd quarter, the Bolts poured in 30 points and were able to build a huge lead during halftime, 50-38. Then, they never looked back and were able to seal the victory after their opening day loss.
Final Score: 97-86
Courtesy of: FIBA Basketball
Chris Banchero yet again shined for the local scoring department as he had 17 points in his 7-10 field goal shooting along with 3 assists and a steal. Coming off the bench is the longest tenured Meralco Bolt, Cliff Hodge who made the biggest impact in the game.
The 13 year vet had 16 points, 3 boards and an assist.
For the imports, Watson Jr. had 17 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal. Varnado had an excellent game with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. While Egbunu continued his double-double performance with 12 points, 13 points accompanied with 3 assists and a steal.
By securing a victory in the group stage, the Meralco Bolts have effectively booked their spot in the knockout phase, even with one more group game left to be played between Utsunomiya and Shabab Al Ahli on Monday.
With only nine teams in the tournament and eight moving on to the next round based on group stage results, Meralco is guaranteed a top-eight finish. This became certain after Chinese Basketball Association titleholders Zhejiang Guangsha Lions failed to win either of their two matches in Group A.
The Bolts now await the results of a draw to find out who they’ll face in the quarterfinals.
