Chris Newsome exploded for 30 points to power the Meralco Bolts past the struggling NLEX Road Warriors, 106-90, to earn their second win, Friday night at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The 6-foot-4 swingman already made an impact right from the start, scoring seven points in the Bolts’ 18-8 opening of the bout — the lead that fixed them on the driver’s seat the rest of the way.
Newsome added seven rebounds, an assist, and a block to his name.
“Chris Newsome played very well tonight… I think he shot the ball pretty well,” lauded Bolts head coach Norman Black of his long-time player, who shot 70 percent from the field.
Newsome even drew the ire of Road Warriors head coach Yeng Guiao due to his shot in the dying seconds, but Black defended his ward, saying that he did that all for the quotient.
“The rules are we play with a quotient and if I remember correctly one team got eliminated when they didn’t have a higher quotient. We’ll just play by the rules,” Black said. “If they take that rule out, we’ll respect the game and not try to score at the endgame.”
Import Arinze Onuaku imposed his presence on the boards, collecting 23 rebounds on top of 15 points. Mike Tolomia finished with 15 markers as well on 60 percent field goal shooting.
Backcourt partners Jared Dillinger and Anjo Caram chipped in 10 points apiece for the Bolts, who led by as much as 24 points, 64-40, with less than nine minutes to go in the third quarter.
For Black, it was their defense aside from their balanced attack that made wonders in the win, as the Orangemen limited NLEX to just 43 percent shooting and forced them to 15 errors.
“Our defense was pretty solid tonight,” said the multi-titled tactician.
Arnett Moultrie, now in his second game, led NLEX with 25 points and 17 rebounds. Kiefer Ravena backed him up with 21 points and 10 assists, while JR Quiñahan supplied 18 markers.
Alex Mallari scored 10 in the loss that sent the Road Warriors to 0-3.
Meralco will next play San Miguel on May 9, Wednesday, 7:00 PM at the Mall of Asia Arena, while NLEX will look to end their skid versus Phoenix on May 11, Friday, 4:30 PM in Biñan, Laguna.
The Scores:
Meralco 106 — Newsome 30, Onuaku 15, Tolomia 15, Amer 10, Caram 10, Dillinger 10, Hodge 7, Canaleta 5, Baracael 4, Ballesteros 0, Hugnatan 0.
NLEX 90 — Moultrie 25, Ravena 21, Quiñahan 18, Mallari 10, Baguio 6, Tiongson 5, Al-Hussaini 2, Fonacier 2, Ighalo 1, Buenafe 0, Miranda 0, Monfort 0, Soyud 0, Taulava 0.
Quarterscores: 24-12, 53-35, 83-66, 106-90.
