WHAT began as a promising outlook is fast turning into a nightmare for Meralco.
The Bolts went down to their second straight loss in the Home and Away Season 3 of the EASL, waylaid by the Taoyuan Pauian Pilots, 82-72, at the Taoyuan Arena in Taipei on Sunday.
READ Brownlee whereabouts unknown to Meralco
Ismael Romero came through with big numbers of 26 points and 17 rebounds and fellow import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had 22 points, 14 rebounds, and four assists as they tried to rally the Bolts from 17 points down only to fall short in the end.
The Bolts are now 0-2 in Group B standings, a record not expected from a team that was full of confidence entering the season following the announcement that Hollis-Jefferson will team up with Gilas Pilipinas naturalized player Justin Brownlee.
Photo: EASL
But two games into the season, the three-time Best Import of Barangay Ginebra remains ‘missing in action’ and has yet to show up in any of Meralco’s practices.
William Artino had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the home team, which clinched its second straight win for a 2-0 record on top of Group B.
William Artino had 20 points and 17 rebounds for the home team, which clinched its second straight win for a 2-0 record on top of Group B.
Meralco also played the second half without active consultant Nenad Vucinic, who was tossed out with 18 seconds left in the second period for incurring back-to-back technical fouls.
“I thought we battled back. Obviously, our coach got thrown out, but we did some good things there,” said coach Luigi Trillo.
“We did enough to bring it down and make it manageable.”
The Bolts did bring the deficit down from 47-64 to 78-72 in the final 32 seconds as the duo of Romero and Hollis-Jefferson willed the team back
But the Pilots didn’t blink as four straight free throws by Amdy Dieng and Ta-You Kuan clinched the win for the home team.
The two teams face each other again on Saturday when Meralco plays host for the first time this season in Ilagan, Isabela.
The scores:
Taoyuan (82) – Artino 20, Brown 18, Lu 14, Kwan 8, Dieng 7, Chen 7, Pai 3. Li 3, Millner 2, Lin 0.
Meralco (72) – Romero 26, Hollis-Jefferson 22, Banchero 9, Newsome 6, Hodge 4, Almazan 2, Comia 2, Quinto 1, Bates 0, Maliksi 0, Black 0.
Quarterscores: 21-16; 43-30; 64-47; 82-72.
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