By MARK REY MONTEJO

Angola center Bruno Fernando has nothing but sweet words for Gilas big men June Mar Fajardo and AJ Edu who both gave the Atlanta Hawks slotman a tough time underneath the basket on Sunday, Aug. 27.

Fernando admitted that he was given a great challenge by the two Filipinos in Angola's 80-70 win in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Just like Dominican Republic’s Karl Anthony-Towns, the 25-year-old Angolan heaped praises on the twin towers.

“Obviously the other guy, Edu, he’s tough, he made it tough for me, it was a great fight and the guy [wears] No. 15 (Fajardo),” Fernando said.

“All of them, great players, they played a hell of a game. I’m impressed by all of them, great team, great atmosphere,” he added.

The 6-foot-10 cager powered Angola with 15 points and seven rebounds behind Gerson Goncalves' 17 points and Gerson Domingos who added 14 points including the three-pointer in the right corner that silenced the sold-out crowd with 47.5 remaining in the final frame.

Jordan Clarkson was the lone double-digit scorer for Gilas as he topscored anew with 21 points with seven rebounds in a losing effort.