INJURIES to both import Venky Jois and William Navarro kept them out of Northport’s PBA Governors Cup game against Magnolia on Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Jois and Williams were both down with sprained ankles and watched from the sidelines as the Batang Pier absorbed a 105-94 loss to the Magnolia Hotshots.
The Aussie import already had the injury the last time Northport played against Meralco that held his production to just six points and five rebounds in a 109-99 loss last Sunday.
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“He sprained his ankle in the second quarter of our game against Meralco,” said coach Bonnie Tan, who played Jois sparingly in the second half against the Bolts.
Navarro meanwhile, hurt his ankle while on his way to team practice on Tuesday during a heavy rainfall, Tan added.
But the forward from Ateneo did well during the Meralco match where he finished with a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Jois averaged 9.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists in three games played with Northport so far, his second tour of duty with the franchise.
Navarro meanwhile, ranks second in team scoring behind Arvin Tolentino with 15.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.0 steal in four games.
Despite their absence, the Batang Pier made it a close contest all the way until Magnolia made a telling scoring run late in the fourth to seal its third win in five outings.
Northport suffered a second straight loss and fell to 2-3 in a tie with Converge in Group A.
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