Mac Cardona sparked the Bolts' offense with 25 points, scoring 15 in the opening half when they pulled away for good behind a scorching 59 percent field goal shooting clip.

The shooting guard out of La Salle finished 11-of-15 from the field, grabbed six rebounds and dished off four assists in Meralco's second straight win to climb out of the cellar with a 2-4 record.

"I think the momentum of our victory against B-Meg carried us through," said Cardona, referring to the Bolts' inspiring 89-86 win in their last outing. "It's now a matter of picking up our game. Kailangan talaga naming magpapanalo to make it to the playoffs."

Meralco import Champ Oguchi added 22 points – 13 in the first half – while Sol Mercado and Reynel Hugnatan had 12 markers each.

Powerade, which absorbed its fifth setback in seven games, got 24 points from import Martin Zeno, but top scorer Gary David was held to only 14 after averaging 34 points in the Tigers' last two games.

For a while, David appeared set to explode in the second half, scoring seven points in the first four minutes of the third period to cut a 17-point deficit at the break to 56-62 following a long three-pointer.

But the Bolts never lost their composure in the face of that big Powerade run.

Instead, they answered back in a huge way, scoring 14 unanswered points behind Cardona and Mercado to hike the lead to 76-56.

The Tigers never recovered from there and trailed by as much as 82-108 following a side jumper by Mark Isip with 1:16 left in the one-sided contest.

KY, JVP, GMA News