The Meralco Bolts survived an endgame uprising by the San Miguel Beermen for a 92-88 victory in Game 5 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals on Friday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Leading 90-80 with over three minutes left, the Beermen surprised the Bolts with an 8-0 scoring run behind June Mar Fajardo, Marcio Lassiter, and Jaymar Perez to cut the deficit to 88-90 with seven seconds left.
Chris Newsome, however, stepped up for the Bolts with two free throws to make it 92-88 with 6.2 seconds remaining before forcing Lassiter to miss his last three-point attempt.
Allein Maliksi had his best game of the series with 22 points, including two three-point conversions, to go with five rebounds and five assists as the Bolts took a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven title series.
Newsome added 22 markers, including a perfect 10-of-10 free throw shooting, while Almazan and Banchero contributed 14 and 12 markers, respectively, for the Bolts.
Fajardo finished with a double-double of 38 points and 18 rebounds, while Perez chipped in 17 markers for the defending champions, the Beermen.
The Bolts can secure their first-ever PBA championship in Game 6 on Sunday evening, still at the Big Dome.
