ANTIPOLO - Olu Ashaolu continued to fight through pain as he led NLEX to a 123-107 win over NorthPort on Sunday - the team's second win in as many games in a surprising start to its PBA Governors Cup campaign.
Ashaolu showed no signs of a ruptured patellar tendon he suffered in a tune-up game, triggering a third-quarter rally for a Road Warriors side missing coach Yeng Guiao and veteran slotman Asi Taulava.
"It's a nice start. But we're not fooling ourselves. We won the first game and everyone was feeling really good. I told the guys that sometines we have to stop listening to those who are saying we're good," said stand-in coach Jojo Lastimosa.
"I love our defense tonight. We struggled because we looked for our offense so I told them that at halftime," he added.
Ashaolu finished with 27 points and 13 rebounds in a game where Lastimosa bared that he was playing with a 70 percent tear.
The locals followed suit with five of them breaching double digits led by Mac Tallo and Larry Fonacier who scored 14 apiece against a NorthPort side that played without Stanley Pringle and Sean Anthony.
The bench also played a huge part in the win, with Kenneth Ighalo, Jr Quinahan and Juami Tiongson combining for 33 points.
With the Batang Pier quickly cutting a double digit lead before the first half ended, the Nigerian-Canadian reinforcement joined forces with Tallo and Michael Miranda to once again take control of the game.
The closest the Batang Pier ever got was at the 4:51 mark of the fourth quarter, when a Rashad Woods jumper trimmed the lead to nine, 104-95.
But the Road Warriors had a ready answer in the form of Ighalo, who made back-to-back three-pointers in a span of eight seconds to put the Road Warriors inexorably ahead, 110-95.
The NorthPort loss put to waste Woods' impressive production of 42 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.
The scores:
NLEX 123 - Ashaolu 27, Fonacier 14, Tallo 14, Quinahan 12, Ighalo 12, Mallari 10, Baguio 8, Paniamogan 5, Galanza 4, Marcelo 4, Miranda 4.
NorthPort 107 - Woods 42, Tautuaa 20, Taha 15, Grey 13, Javelona 8, Teng 5, Guinto 3, Elorde 1, Espinas 0, Gabayni 0
Quarters: 34-19, 61-58, 84-78, 123-107
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