MAGNOLIA spoiled the first outing of Deonte Burton as NLEX import after the Hotshots whipped the NLEX Road Warriors, 95-81, in the PBA On Tour on Saturday at the Batangas City Sports Coliseum.
Javi Gomez De Liano finished with 16 points while the backcourt tandem of Mark Barroca and Jerom Lastimosa each scored 13 in the victory which the Hotshots fashioned out in the absence of import KJ Buffen.
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The Hotshots also held the 32-year-old Burton to just 11 points in his first NLEX game as a replacement to the injured Dequan Jones.
The match also featured former Gilas teammates Jimmy Alapag and LA Tenorio in their first coaching duel in the pro league, although the win-loss record in the month-long On Tour doesn't count officially in the season-ending PBA Governors' Cup.
Alapag and Tenorio had a brief chat prior to the start of the game.
The 42-year-old Tenorio just arrived in the country on Wednesday from Nagoya, Japan where he was part of the coaching staff of the Gilas Pilipinas side that failed to defend the men's basketball gold medal.
Robert Bolick was also with Tenorio in the national team, but the shooting guard wasn't around for the exhibition match that was delayed by a bried power failure.
Guard Schonny Winston picked up the cudgels for the Road Warriors with 17 points, while JB Bahio added nine.
The loss was the second straight for NLEX in the On Tour after bowing to Blackwater last Sept. 9 in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan, 109-107.
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