Jay R. Gotera Saudi GazetteMANILA – A new electrifying import and a veteran local teamed up to power the Meralco Bolts to a 100-95 win over the Alaska Aces Sunday night in the PBA Governors' Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. High-leaping former NBA star Mario West sparkled with 33 points and six assists while 39-year-old Asi Taulava stroked 23 points and 12 rebounds to lift the Bolts out of the cellar with only their second win in five games, thus reviving Meralco's hopes of squeezing into the playoffs. Alaska absorbed its third straight loss and dropped to the bottom of the standings with a 1-4 win-loss card. In the second game of the twinbill, the Barangay Ginebra Kings unleashed a mighty run in the homestretch to whip the Petron Blaze Boosters, 83-80, for their third win in five games, propelling them into a tie with the Powerade Tigers for third to fourth place in the standings. The Boosters suffered their third loss in six games to slide to fifth place in the rankings. West was actually held scoreless in the final quarter, but Taulava and the other Meralco locals were there to preserve the crucial victory for their team. West, a former starter of the Atlanta Hawks, debuted like a house on fire, drilling 22 points in the first half which the Bolts took, 55-50. West wowed the weekend crowd with his athleticism as he scored on rim-rattling dunks and a variety of drives to the basket. He unloaded 11 more points in the third quarter to pad Meralco's lead to 82-75 entering the fourth. But the Aces refused to wilt without a fight as LA Tenorio's reverse lay-up pushed them within three points, 96-93, with 1:22 left in the game. But Taulava canned in two free throws and played tenacious defense to blunt an Alaska comeback. West was a replacement for Champ Oguchi who failed to meet Meralco coach Ryan Gregorio's expectations, averaging only 12.5 points in the Bolts' last two games. West showed tremendous energy and intensity which rubbed off on his teammates, particularly Taulava. Taulava has not scored that many points since last year's Philippine Cup, when he had 25 and 17. Import Jason Forte led Alaska with 24 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks but could not prevent Alaska from taking another step toward elimination. __
