It was a homecoming for the scorching-hot shooting Allein Maliksi and Aljon Mariano as their respective teams battled it out in the main game of the PBA On Tour double-header on Wednesday at the Quadricentennial Pavilion in UST.

But it was Maliksi’s Bolts that stood tall in the final buzzer as Meralco dispatched their rival Barangay Ginebra San Miguel to punctuate the return of the professional league in España.

Maliksi caught fire with 23 points on 3-of-7 three-point clips to help the Bolts stave off all Ginebra rallies throughout the night. Mariano, meanwhile, had a pedestrian tally of eight points and four rebounds for the Gin Kings.

Bong Quinto added 22 points for the Bolts, while Franky Johnson chipped in 14 markers on four three-point makes.

The Bolts used a fiery first quarter blast founded off their red-hot shooting to set the tone of the relatively intense and physical matchup.

Shooting swung heavily in favor of the Bolts as they drilled 15 threes against the five triples converted by the Gin Kings.

Von Pessumal had himself a solid night for the Gin Kings, recording 26 points, but it all went to naught as the Bolts proved to be too much for the crowd favorites to handle.

The evening also saw the UST Salinggawi dance troupe and the UST Yellow Jackets take the stage to perform their respective numbers, culminating in a joint performance in the halftime of the second game.

Earlier in the night, the NLEX Road Warriors took care of business against the Northport Batang Pier, 95-87, to open the festivities inside the Q-Pav.

The UST Tiger ties in the Batang Pier bench was strong as the returning, newly-appointed Growling Tigers head coach Pido Jarencio serves as an assistant coach to the Northport team.

Bonnie Tan, the Batang Pier’s head coach, was also brought in to the coaching staff of the Tigers this offseason, playing the role of an active consultant, while Northport’s assistant team manager Waiyip Chong is one of the UST basketball program’s managers.

Jarencio coached the last championship iteration of the Growling Tigers in 2006, and was the head tactician of the school until 2013, in which he mentored the likes of Maliksi and Mariano.

On the other hand, the Road Warriors got most of its firepower from veteran Sean Anthony with 25 points, on 10-of-19 shooting from the field, alongside eight rebounds, and three steals.

NLEX also found solid double-digit contributions from five other players, led by Clint Doliguez’s 14 points, Kris Rosales’ 13, Don Trollano’s 12, Kevin Alas’ 11, and Ben Adamos’ 10.

Northport started off hot, building a seven-point cushion early in the first quarter, but the offensive variance crashed from there as the Road Warriors tightened their defensive screws to catch up and take hold the driver seat.

The Batang Pier pulled within one point in the third frame, but NLEX stepped on the gas to start the fourth period to never look back.