Composure.
That was the key to the Meralco Bolts tying their PBA Commissioner’s Cup semis showdown with the TNT Tropang 5G on Wednesday after pulling out a hard‑fought 101-90 Game 4 victory.
Meralco Almost Falters Again
But the Bolts very nearly lost poise—again—down the stretch of that pivotal game as TNT cut down a 90-81 lead to 93-90 at the 2:55 mark. The Tropa had two chances to tie things up but came up empty both times. Meralco couldn’t do better either, coming up empty in back‑to‑back possessions as well.
On the third, though, the Bolts—specifically CJ Cansino—finally came through. With the shot clock running down and time down to a minute and change, Cansino found himself open from straightaway in four‑point territory. He calmly rose up and let it fly.
Swish. Game over.
“I thought we did a good job as a team keeping our poise not only on offense but defense as well,” Meralco’s Luigi Trillo said afterward.
Bolts Need to Show More Composure
That four‑pointer gave the Bolts breathing room on their way to their second win in this series. But Cansino knows he and his teammates will need to show more poise against TNT, especially when the latter starts to make its patented fourth‑quarter uprisings.
“Siguro mas natuto lang kami sa past games namin, and ‘yung composure namin mas kailangan pa naming diinan pa kasi ganu’n palagi nagiging problema namin,” said Cansino, who finished with 17 big points after averaging just 8.3 points in the previous three games.
The problem Cansino is alluding to is Meralco’s tendency to collapse down the stretch once the Tropa turn up the heat. It very nearly happened again in Game 4, with only Cansino’s four‑point conversion preventing the Bolts from collapsing once more. Now, for Cansino, the challenge is to bring that composure into Game 5—and beyond.
“Masaya kami na hindi nangyari iyon ngayon, and hopefully madala namin iyong confidence na ibinigay ng game na ito sa mga next games pa,” he added.
Next up for Cansino and the Bolts is Friday’s Game 5.
