MERALCO tries to press on following its king-sized Game 1 upset victory when the Bolts go up against the San Miguel Beermen in Game 2 of their PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven championship series on Friday at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City

Game time is 7:30 p.m.

The Bolts leaned on their choking team defense as they held the Beermen to a conference-low 35 points in the second half en route to grabbing a 93-86 win in the series opener on Wednesday.

Veteran wingman Chris Newsome said taking a 1-0 lead does not necessarily mean the Bolts have taken control of the series.

Newsome, who fired 18 points last Wednesday, said their victory was a byproduct of team effort and they will have to keep plowing since it takes four wins to claim in the title series.

"There's so much work to be done, but shout out to the guys who do things that do not come out in the stats sheet," Newsome said.

Meralco coach Luigi Trillo had four big men rotating to defend San Miguel star center June Mar Fajardo, who still managed to lead the Beermen with 23 points and 10 rebounds.

The seven-time league Most Valuable Player had six turnovers and worked hard for every point.

"You can't really stop June Mar one-on-one. You can see how potent he is when he is near (the basket)," said Trillo, whose team also beat the Beermen, 95-92, in the elimination round.

Trillo, however, is bracing for a much tougher Game 2, knowing how deep San Miguel is, in terms of talent and experience.

CJ Perez and Marcio Lassiter, who scored 20 and 16 points respectively, are expected to come out with guns ablaze once again in an effort to help Fajardo.

Don Trollano and Jericho Cruz will also need to step up on offense since the two former Adamson gunners are capable of scoring in bunches at any given time.

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