MERALCO continued to win even in the absence of coach Luigi Trillo as it hacked out a 96-83 victory over NLEX in the PBA On Tour on Wednesday.
Meralco vs NLEX PBA On Tour recap
Active consultant Nenad Vucinic called the shots for the Bolts, who responded by snapping the Road Warriors' two-game winning streak.
Alvin Pasaol showed the way for Meralco by sinking seven three pointers on the way to a game-high 25 points.
Vucinic though, politely begged off for the post-game presser, with deputy Reynel Hugnatan coming in his behalf.
Hugnatan, who’s in-charge of coaching the bigs of Meralco, said he encouraged Pasaol to take his usual shots from the outside, especially since the former University of the East star has a good three-point shooting.
“Ni-remind ko lang siya kasi the past few games ang sama ng shooting niya. E kung may shooting, may shooting naman siya talaga,” Hugnatan said of Pasaol.
The Bolts’ sixth win in nine outings also welcomed the return of guard Aaron Black in his first game in the preseason, although the winner of the 2020 top rookie award failed to score on 0-of-7 shooting, but had five rebounds and nine assists.
Raymond Almazad had 12 points and eigth rebounds, while Allein Maliksi (11), Diego Dario (11), and Franky Johnson also contributed in double figures for the Bolts.
The loss meanwhile, sent NLEX reeling to its fifth loss in eight outings and spoiled the debut of new acquisition Rob Herndon with the team.
Herndon finished with 10 points after being signed to a two-year deal by the Road Warriors as a free agent.
Don Trollano led NLEX with 19 points and nine rebounds, while Sean Anthony submitted double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds.
The scores
Meralco (96) – Pasaol 25, Almazan 12, Dario 11, Maliksi 11, Johnson 10, Pascual 8, Rios 6, Hodge 4, Torres 4, Quinto 3, Jose 2, Black 0.
NLEX (83) – Trollano 17, Anthony 15, Nieto 15, Alas 10, Herndon 10, Doliguez 9, Pascual 4, Adamos 3, Fajardo 0.
Quarterscores: 24-20; 43-39; 71-62; 96-83.
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