OLU Ashaolu may be on his way out, but he still gave NLEX one good game.
His local teammates were totally appreciative and it showed.
Displaying a more cohesive effort on both ends of the court NLEX scored a 123-107 victory over North Port Sunday for the provisional solo lead in the PBA Governors Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
The injured Ashaolu wound up with 27 points and 13 rebounds in what could be his final game due to a partially torn patellar tendon that he suffered during a tuneup game last week, but still didn't prevent him from notching 33 and 23 in a 103-90 shocker over TNT last Friday.
Acting shotcaller Jojo Lastimosa bared that a replacement import is en route and should be arriving in time for the game against Magnolia Ang Pambansang Manok on Wednesday.
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With their import playing practically on just one leg and his minutes carefully managed, the likes of fellow starters Larry Fonacier, Mark Tallo and Alex Malalri, as well as JR Quinahan, Juami Tiongson and Kenneth Ighalo provided the help that proved invaluable for the Road Warriors.
Meralco, also an opening day winner, is also gunning for its second win against TNT later in the evening.
Yet a major share of the spotlight should fall on NLEX, which is just coming off a next-to-last finish in the recent Commissioner's Cup but is now off to a sterling start despite the absence of head coach Yeng Guiao and spiritual leader Asi Taulava, both with the national squad in the Asian Games.
While NLEX's locals proved up to the task, the same cannot be said of the team formerly known as GlobalPort.
Rashad Woods overcame a rocky start to finish with 42 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists in his league debut. But only Mo Tautuaa was able to back him up with his own double-double of 20 points and 12 boards.
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Paolo Taha and Jonathan Grey had at least 13 points each, but those could not stop NLEX from erecting as much as a 121-102 spread, only 2:16left.
Stanley Pringle and Sean Anthony could have helped, but Pringle is also with the national team in Indonesia while Anthony is nursing a calf muscle injury.
Adding to coach Pido Jarencio's woes were the injuries suffered by Nico Elorde (back) and Jeric Teng (right calf) in the course of the game.
Ashaolu clearly set the tone for NLEX, especially in the third quarter where he scattered 13 of his points and powered the Road Warriors to break away from a 61-58 halftime count and into a 94-78 spread.
North Port's veritable last gasp came when it whittled the deficit to just 95-104, but Ighalo canned back-to-back corner 3s and Tiongson did the same, highlighting a 17-7 surge by NLEX that all but settled the issue.(NC)
The scores:
NLEX 123 - Ashaolu 27, Fonacier 14, Tallo 14, Quinahan 12, Ighalo 11, Mallari 10, Tiongson 10, Baguio 8, Paniamogan 5, Marcelo 4, Miranda 4, Galanza 4.
NorthPort 107 - Woods 42, Tautuaa 20, Taha 15, Grey 13, Javelona 8, Teng 5, Guinto 3, Elorde 1, Espinas 0, Gabayni 0.
Quarters: 34-19, 61-58, 94-78, 123-107.
