Meralco has tapped the services of Cady Lalanne for its crucial East Asia Super League duel versus Ryukyu this Wednesday at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Coach Luigi Trillo confirmed to Tiebreaker Times that the Haitian center will serve as one of the Bolts’ reinforcements against the Golden Kings in a game that would make or break their chances of advancing to the playoffs.
A semifinalist in the recently concluded PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup, the crew will need to beat their B.League counterparts, preferably by a big margin, as point differential would break the tie in the event of a three-way logjam.
As it stands, Ryukyu (+1) is sitting atop Group B with a 4-1 record, followed by the Taoyuan Pauian Pilots (4-2; +9) of Taiwan and Meralco (3-2; -10).
It sure is going to be a challenging home game for the Bolts, with star guard Chris Newsome expected to sit out as he continues to recover from the MCL sprain he suffered during the Philippine Cup semis versus TNT.
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But that’s precisely why Trillo and his deputies brought in much-needed help in the form of Lalanne, who’s been in Manila for about a week now as he signed with NLEX for the Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup that starts in March.
The 6-foot-10 big man out of the University of Massachusetts will be sharing import duties with Justin Brownlee, Ismail Romero, and Asian guard Sina Vahedi.
He’d also be forming an intriguing partnership with Vahedi after competing against each other in the FIBA West Asia Super League Final 8 in 2024.
Both men fought for the bronze medal of the pan-regional contest’s culminating event, with Vahedi coming out victorious as Iran’s Shahrdari Gorgan handed Lalanne and Kuwait Club a 92-76 beatdown to secure a podium finish.
Lalanne has been practicing with Meralco, and that should bode well for the Road Warriors, too, as he gets game-ready before the mid-season tilt.
The upcoming Bolts-Golden Kings, which serves as the only remaining match of the 2025-26 EASL group phase, is scheduled for a 7:40 p.m. tipoff.
The EASL Finals, the league’s newly branded postseason championship event in which six teams will qualify, is set on March 18-22 in Macau.
