DON Trollano added the biggest proof to why he should’ve been an All-Star this year, bursting out with 44 points in 35 minutes to carry NLEX to a 142-125 victory over Terrafirma on Thursday in the PBA Governors’ Cup.
NLEX vs Terrafirma recap
Snubbed by fans in the All-Star voting, the Road Warriors star turned the Big Dome into his personal playground, resetting his scoring career-high while breaking the PBA record for consecutive triples without a miss with nine straight at one hot stretch.
The Road Warriors won back-to-back games and improved to 7-3 overall to tighten their grip on the fourth spot, breaking a tie with Converge.
NLEX also handed the Dyip their fifth straight loss, keeping the victims stuck at 10th spot at 2-7.
“Kailangan din talaga namin manalo,” Trollano said. “Crucial yung game na ‘to, kasi we’re trying to get to the Top Four para may twice-to-beat, so kung matalo kami, baka yung chance namin is bumaba.”
“Sa’kin, what matters most is the win,” NLEX coach Frankie Lim said. “I think the records and scores will just come in, but mas important yung win namin for tonight.”
“And if you remember last conference, we lost to Terrafirma and that destroyed all our dreams of entering the quarterfinals,” he added. “Sabi ko, it’s payback time. Let’s get this one and we’ll think of ways to beat San Miguel in our last game.”
Trollano heeded Lim’s call. After missing his first three-point attempt, the former Adamson star knocked one triple down after another until the streak reached nine, allowing him to break the all-time record for consecutive treys last held by the great Allan Caidic, alongside Renren Ritualo and Von Pessumal.
Trollano highlighted his torrid shooting with a perfect third quarter where he hit all his nine attempts, including five from beyond the arc to score 24 points.
The hot shooting overall (17 of 23 from the field and 9 of 11 from 3s) laid the foundation for his 44-point explosion, matching Robert Bolick’s output for the league season-high for a local and the all-time franchise best for a local since Sean Anthony scored 37 in the 2016 Philippine Cup.
Trollano linked up with import Wayne Selden Jr., who also waxed hot with six triples to finish with 38 points, on top of eight assists, and six boards as they almost became the first teammates to score at least 40 points each in a game since Caidic and Terrance Bailey fired 42 and 45 markers for Presto in the 1991 Third Conference.
Trollano and Selden buried 15 of the Road Warriors’ 23 triples that tied the all-time league record with San Miguel and TNT, which did the feat twice.
The result spoiled Juami Tiongson's own hot streak as he fired 38 points, built around six treys, while also collecting five assists and five steals in a losing cause.
The scores:
NLEX 142 – Trollano 44, Selden 38, Ganuelas-Rosser 19, Alas 15, Paniamogan 6, Nieto 5, Rosales 4, Pascual 4, Miranda 3, Semerad 2, Doliguez 2, Celda 0, Ighalo 0, Gabo 0
TERRAFIRMA 125 – Tiongson 38, Williams 29, Cahilig 17, Gabayni 13, Ramos 5, Cabagnot 5, Calvo 4, Camson 4, Daquioag 3, Gomez de Liaño 3, Alolino 2, Ferrer 2, Mina 0
Quarterscores: 31-27, 66-49, 110-87, 142-125
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