ANTIPOLO CITY - NLEX hardly showed it misses coach Yeng Guiao.
The Road Warriors dominated TnT Katropa to score a wire-to-wire 103-90 win and get their PBA Governors Cup campaign off to a rousing start on Friday night at the Ynares Center here.
Ailing import Olu Ashaolu and rookie Mark Anthony Tallo came through for the Road Warriors in a stunning win against the heavily-favored Katropa fashioned out without Guiao and veteran Asi Taulava.
Guiao and Taulava are both in Jakarta as part of the men's basketball team in the 18th Asian Games.
"Coach Yeng won, and we also won," said deputy coach Jojo Lastimosa, calling the shots for the Road Warriors in the absence of Guiao.
"It's always nice to win but si coach Yeng, upon leaving, his only wish was when he comes back after the Asian Games, we're not in an 0-2, 0-3, 0-4 hole, he added.
"'Sana pagbalik ko, in contention pa tayo,' and that's the challenge he left to us the coaching staff."
Ashaolu played through a patellar tendon tear and yet still delivered impressive numbers of 33 points and 23 rebounds.
Pending the availability of a replacement import, Ashaolu could still try to hold the fort for the Road Warriors in next their two games, according to Lastimosa.
Tallo, meanwhile, torched his former team for 16 points while Larry Fonacier returned from a broken rib injury to finish with 14 points.
The Road Warriors also got significant contributions from free agent acquisitions Philip Paniamogan and Bong Galanza, two pick-ups from the MPBL.
Galanza had nine and Paniamogan 11. Both played for Columbian Dyip in the Philippine Cup before becoming free agents.
"They were awesome. More than their shooting, what they brought to the game was the activity in terms of being able to stay with the quicker guys in the perimeter and the ball handlers," said Lastimosa.
Terrence Romeo topscored with 27 points for TnT Katropa, which only led, 2-0, before NLEX began to take control.
Import Mike Glover failed to impress in his return stint in the league and finished with 11 points and 15 rebounds on 4-of-12 shooting.
The scores:
NLEX (103) - Ashaolu 33, Tallo 16, Fonacier 14, Paniamogan 11, Galanza 9, Tiongson 5, Mallari 5, Baguio 3, Miranda 2, Marcelo 0.
TnT Katropa (90) - Romeo 27, Castro 13, Pogoy 13, Glover 11, Semerad 10, Rosario 5, Williams 4, Garcia 3, Tamsi 2, Golla 0, Carey 0.
Quarterscores: 23-17; 54-45; 78-74; 103-90.
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