MERALCO failed to protect an early lead and went down against Ulaanbaatar Xac Broncos, 83-78, to miss out on a semifinals berth in the Basketball Champions League Asia at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai Wednesday night.
The Bolts led by as many as 23-10 late in the first quarter, but the Broncos outscored the PBA Philippine Cup champions after that, 30-19, and fell behind by just two at the half.
Ulaanbaatar got 32 big points from Ian Miller, including a three that sparked a 7-0 run and gave the Broncos their largest lead of the game, 70-59.
The Mongolian ballclub, winner of seven championships in The League, will meet reigning N. League champion Utsunomiya Brex in the semifinals on Thursday.
Utsunomiya, which lost to Meralco in the group stage, 97-86, edged out Tabiat in two overtimes, 94-93, in the first quarterfinals game.
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"We started well and then we disappeared for a couple of quarters," admitted Meralco active consultant Nenad Vucinic.
We managed to comeback towards the end of the game, had a chance to win, but probably overall, we deserved to lose that game."
Import Jordon Varnado finished with 23 points and 14 rebounds for Meralco, which clawed its way back and threatened at 80-78, but Saruul-erdene Enkhabaatar converted two free throws to make it a four-point lead for the Broncos in the final 22 seconds.
Glynn Watson and Varnado then missed consecutive three point shots in the Bolts' final two plays.
Watson added 22 points, while Bong Quinto topped the Meralco locals with 12.
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The Bolts' best local player in Chris Newsome however, was held scoreless on 0-of-7 shooting.
The Bolts ended their campaign in the week-long meet formerly known as the FIBA Asia Champions Cup with a 1-2 slate in both the group phase and quarterfinals, their lone win coming at the expense of Utsunomiya.
The loss also meant Meralco failing to qualify in the FIBA Intercontinental Cup in Singapore reserved for the four semifinalists in the BCL Asia.(RG)
The scores
UlaanBaatar Xac Broncos (83) -- Miller 32, Erdene 13, Altangerel 10, Tshimanga 7, Enkhbaatar 5, Sandagdorj 4, Chuluunbaatar 2, Otgonbaatar 0, Davaadorj 0, Elbeg 0.
Meralco (78) -- Varnado 23, Watson 22, Quinto 12, Egbunu 10, Cansino 6, Banchero 2, Hodge 2, Almazan 1, Newsome 0, Black 0.
Quarterscores: 20-27; 40-42; 61-57; 83-78.
