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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Meralco routs NLEX, snaps two-game slide

Meralco routs NLEX, snaps two-game slide

Published Feb 23, 2023 07:37 pm

Meralco surged ahead in a strong first half and left NLEX in the dust to cruise to a convincing 114-98 victory and snap a two-game slide in the 2023 PBA Governors’ Cup at the PhilSports Arena on Thursday, Feb. 23.

KJ McDaniels posts a double-double of 31 points and 21 rebounds to power Meralco. (PBA Images)

Allein Maliksi showed the way as the Bolts uncorked a back-breaking 22-0 run bridging the third and final frame to establish a sizable margin before shrugging off any Road Warriors comeback attempt to get back on track and move above .500 mark with their 4-3 record.

Maliksi scored seven of his 19 points during the run while KJ McDaniels posted a double-double of 31 points and 21 rebounds to power Meralco which also got solid contributions from Chris Newsome, Aaron Black and Cliff Hodge.

Newsome finished with 18 points while Black added 15. Hodge contributed just nine points but made his presence felt on the boards with his eight rebounds – four from the offensive end to reach a milestone 1,000 offensive rebounds in his career.

Meralco head coach Norman Black lauded his wards for keeping their foot on the gas pedal despite building a lead that went to as many as 21 points, especially when NLEX tried to make a comeback in the second half

“Basketball is really a game of runs and you really see a team blow out of a team for the entire game. So sometimes you get on a good run, you don't really know exactly what the other team figures it out, they come back and they do well and at the end,” said the veteran mentor.

“We were just able to get some stops and Allein hit a big shot, of course KJ was a really dominant player, force in the paint today which really helped us out a lot,” he added.

Despite taking full control of the contest, Meralco still saw a hard-fighting NLEX chopping its lead down to single digits, the closest at five points, 90-85, behind the efforts of Wayne Selden Jr. and Kevin Alas.

Meralco though was quick to regain their footing behind timely hits from Newsome and Maliksi which eventually took the fight out of NLEX.

Selden finished with 29 points, eight rebounds and seven assists while Don Trollano added 19 – both of which were not enough as NLEX saw its bid for an outright quarterfinals berth derailed by the loss that slid its record down to 5-3.

Related Tags

NLEX Road Warriors Meralco Bolts Allein Maliksi Cliff Hodge 2023 PBA governors' cup
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