NLEX’s Don Trollano. PBA IMAGES
ANTIPOLO CITY—NLEX regained its winning form on Saturday night, taking down Meralco, 90-75, in a hotly-contested affair at Ynares Center here.
Don Trollano had 19 points, while JR Quinahan 16 as the Road Warriors rebounded from an embarrassing meltdown to Ginebra last week and improved to 3-2 in the Philippine Cup.
“This is big for us psychologically. During the Ginebra game, we lead by so much but we still lost. This time, we were trying to hold on. So the talk in the dugout was this was going to be another close game. So what we wanted was to be mature,” said coach Yeng Guiao.
Justin Chua put up 15 points and 11 assists in a personal return to form, while Kevin Alas added 14 and Calvin Oftana a double-double of his own in 12 and 11.
Meralco drew 17 points from Chris Newsome and 10 more from Reynel Hugnatan. But without Raymond Almazan who remained under league health protocols and Aaron Black scoring just nine points, the Bolts slid to 3-2.
NLEX hopes to get a streak going when it plays Phoenix Super LPG this Thursday as the league returns to its perennial staging site, Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City.
Meralco, on the other hand, will try to subdue a rejuvenated Blackwater side which is currently tied with San Miguel at 2nd place with a 3-1 card.
The Scores:
NLEX 90 – Trollano 19, Quinahan 16, Chua 15, Alas 14, Oftana 12, Rosales 5, Miranda 4, Ighalo 3, Soyud 2, Paniamogan 0, Semerad 0.
MERALCO 75 – Newsome 17, Hugnatan 10, Black 9, Hodge 7, Maliksi 7, Caram 7, Jose 6, Banchero 5, Quinto 4, Pasaol 3, Belo 0, Baclao 0.
Quarterscores: 23-25, 47-42, 65-58, 90-75.