Meralco Bolts import Akil Mitchell against Hong Kong Eastern in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup. Photo from PBA Images.

MANILA (UPDATED) — The Meralco Bolts successfully returned to the win column and opened 2025 in a victorious manner.

This was after the home bets took down Hong Kong Eastern, 88-83, in their PBA Season 49 Commissioner's Cup faceoff on Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City for their fourth triumph in six games.

Akil Mitchell led all scorers with 31 points on top of 14 rebounds, seven steals, and five assists to help Meralco end a two-game losing skid, while Bong Quinto followed him with 16 markers, four boards, and two dimes.

"These types of games, we live for, kasi it shows our character," said Bolts head coach Luigi Trillo during the postgame presser. "Kapag natatalo ka ng two games, it's always pinpointing, finger-pointing, but to beat Eastern, we had to match their toughness."

Also helping the Bolts avoid surrendering their once nine-point lead were Chris Newsome and Aaron Black who both scored nine, while Chris Banchero, Brandon Bates, and CJ Cansino returned from their respective injuries by scoring six, two, and two, respectively.

"We went through tough times nung past two games namin. We had eight guys injured, so our break was good because we had days off. It was nice to have guys back, and they are gonna be crucial coming into our remaining schedule," pointed out the PBA champion mentor. 

After Hong Kong overtook Meralco, 72-71, following a deuce by Hayden Blankley early in the final canto, the Bolts answered right away with an eight-to-one spurt for a 79-73 cushion with still six minutes left. 

Kobey Lam's and-one at the 5:10 mark, however, helped Eastern to get within one anew, 79-78, but Newsome quickly answered with a triple less than a minute later to re-extend their lead to four, 82-78.

Lam hit another crucial basket, this time a three-pointer with only 2:44 remaining in the game to get HK to within a possession, 84-81, but unfortunately for them, this was the nearest that they could get as Black and Newsome put on the finishing touches for Meralco.

Chris McLaughlin led Hong Kong with 28 points, 18 rebounds, three assists, and two steals, while Lam and Blankley followed with 16 and 12, respectively. However, they fell to 6-3 in the team standings.

The Scores:

Meralco 88 – Mitchell 31, Quinto 16, Black 9, Newsome 9, Black 9, Hodge 6, Banchero 6, Caram 4, Torres 3, Bates 2, Cansino 2, Rios 0, Almazan 0, Reyson 0.

Eastern 83 – McLaughlin 28, Lam 16, Guinchard 13, Blankley 12, Cao 5, Cheung 3, Chan 2, Yang 2, Pok 2, Leung 0, Xu 0.

Quarterscores: 19-15, 39-36, 69-67, 88-83.

RELATED VIDEOS: