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| NLEX import Olu Ashaolu issued a double-double despite one good knee in the Road Warriors' win over TNT KaTropa. PBA Media Bureau. |
By Ricky Manliguis
ANTIPOLO—NLEX hardly missed the
absence of its head coach as it pulled the rug from under TNT, 103-90, in the
main game of the 2018 PBA Governors’ Cup Friday night at the Ynares Center.
Import Olu Ashaolu delivered a double-double
performance, while his teammates fired
the killer blows in the endgame for the Road Warriors, missing the services
of coach Yeng Guiao and veteran Asi Taulava who are participating in the Asian
Games in Jakarta.
The win also was the first under
assistant coach Jojo Lastimosa.
Ashaolu scored a game high 33 points
and 23 rebounds despite playing with a pateliar tendon tear. Mac Tallo scored 16
points against his former club, while Larry Fonacier added 14.
The Road Warriors also got an added boost from new
players Phillip Paniamogan and Bong Galanza, as the duo scored 20 points on a
combined 8-of-15 shooting.
After a tight three quarters, the Road
Warriors turned up the heat in the final quarter, turning a 78-74 lead to a 93-78
cushion on five straight Fonacier points with 6:05 left.
Tallo then fired a booming triple for
the largest lead of the ballgame, 102-85, and held on from there.
"You can see he was all-out
tonight with half a leg not functioning," Lastimosa said of the Nigerian-Canadian
import. "So you can see that he really
wanted to win the game for the players."
The Alaska legend also gave praises to
Paniamogan and Galanza, who last played in the Mahralika Pilipinas Basketball
League.
"They were awesome. More than
their shooting, what they brought to the game was the activity in terms of
being able to stay with the quicker guys in the perimeter and the ball
handlers," said Lastimosa.
Terrence Romeo finished with 27 points
for TNT, who only got 11 points and 15 rebounds from reinforcement Mike Glover.
NLEX hopes to bring in the replacement for Ashaolu in time for its next game against Magnolia Hotshots on Wednesday.
The scores:
NLEX 103 -
Ashaolu 33, Tallo 16, Fonacier 14, Paniamogan 11, Galanza 9, Quinahan 5,
Tiongson 5, Mallari 5, Baguio 3, Miranda 2, Marcelo 0,
TNT 90 -
Romeo 27, Castro 13, Pogoy 13, Glover 11, Semerad 10, Rosario 5, Williams 4,
Garcia 3, Tamsi 2, Golla 0, Carey 0.
Quarterscores: 23-17, 54-45,
78-74, 103-90.
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