WATCH: Game officials miss crucial 24-second violation by Meralco

Meralco’s defense held true this time around, leading to an 81-75 win over Magnolia Ang Pambansang Manok Friday to even up their PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals duel at one game apiece at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

Tony Bishop atoned for a poor performance in an 80-94 loss in the series opener last Wednesday by finishing with 22 points and 14 rebounds while getting plenty of help from his local teammates.

Chris Newsome finished with 18 points, Aaron Black had 14 points, six rebounds and four assists while Chris Banchero added 10 in the win but coach Norman Black gave most of the credit to his team’s defense.

“We came to the conclusion that in order for us to win this series we have to get back to focusing on defense,” said Black.

“Because Magnolia is… a defensive team we’re not going to be able to score that many points against them.”

Black added that pushing the pace on offense was also a ploy that should work – and did – to his team’s advantage.

“We still have to keep the game fast, keep it quick, and maybe we can have an opportunity to score on fastbreaks. We want to take advantage of it,” stated Black.