THE Bay Area Dragons are sticking with Andrew Nicholson of Game Four of the PBA Commissioner's Cup finals against Barangay Ginebra on Friday.
The guest team from Hong Kong hasn't notified the league about a possible change in import after Nicholson suffered a left sprain ankle late in the Dragons' 89-82 loss in Game Three.
See Bay Area import Andrew Nicholson taken to hospital after Game 3 injury
Deadline for import replacement was at 12 p.m. of Thursday.
"Hindi sila nagsabi na magpapalit sila ng import. And tapos na ang deadline. So si Nicholson pa rin ang import nila," said commissioner Willie Marcial.
Bay Area team manager Maya Montecillo also confirmed Nicholson will continue playing for the Dragons.
"We are retaining the same lineup for tomorrow's game," she said.
Following the injury to Nicholson, who went out of the Mall of Asia Arena in a wheelchair, speculations abound that Myles Powell could take over the post for the rest of the best-of-seven finals which the Kings lead, 2-1.
But the 6-foot-2 Powell himself is coming off an injury, too, after severely hurting his foot in practice prior to the playoffs, that paved the way for Nicholson to suit up for the Dragons beginning the quarterfinals.
Under Bay Area's arrangement with the league, Nicholson can still be replaced by Powell in case he suffers an injury, but couldn't return and play if and when Powell also goes down with another injury.
The 6-foot-10 Nicholson sprained his left ankle when he stepped on the foot of Jamie Malonzo following a rebound battle with 34 seconds left and the Kings leading, 85-79.
He had to be carried out of the court by his teammates, went ahead to the dugout, and never returned.