The NLEX Road Warriors are looking to punch in its third-straight win, and standing in their way is the tournament’s third-leading scorer Allein Maliksi and the well-rounded Bolts.
Catch the game tomorrow at 5:00 PM.
Meralco Bolts (5-3)
- Diego Dario
- Allein Maliksi
- Kier Quinto
- Cliff Hodge
- Raymond Almazan
The Bolts are up-and-down in the tournament, but will be coming off a 106-93 victory over the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings last July 5th. They used a 37-21 start in the first quarter to get it going and never looked back.
As per usual, Allen Maliksi was the main piece as he contributed well on both ends – he’s stepping up nicely while key guard Chris Newsome is out. Along with posting a team-high 23 points with three three-pointers vs. Ginebra, he also collected three steals. It’s been that kind of stretch for the swingman as he is currently third in the tournament in scoring (21.5 PPG) and seventh in steals (1.5 SPG).
Kier Quinto (15.4 PPG, 6.0 APG) had 22 points in the win against Ginebra and will be the main help of Maliksi. They’ll be backed up by Cliff Hodge (12.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 3.2 APG), Anjo Caram (11.3 PPG, 4.3 APG), and towering big man Raymond Almazan (8.8 PPG, 7.6 RPG).
NLEX Road Warriors (3-4)
- Clint Doliguez
- Matt Nieto
- Kevin Alas
- Sean Anthony
- Benedict Adamos
The Road Warriors have built some kind of momentum following back-to-back wins. They dusted off the NorthPort Batang Pier on July 5th, 95-87, and edged out the San Miguel Beermen last June 28th, 102-94. They outscored the Beermen in the all-important fourth quarter, 29-17, to escape with a W.
True to a Frankie Lim-coached squad, NLEX is fielding a balanced attack. They have five players scoring in double-figures, and it’s between 10 and 15 points per game – led by one of the top bruising forwards in the league, Sean Anthony, who has a double double of 15.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game in five games thus far.
Don Trollano (14.7 PPG), Kevin Alas (11.1 PPG), and Benedict Adamos (14.4 PPG) will remain as scoring threats as well – Trollano had 19 points and swished five threes in the win vs. NorthPort last week. Dominick Fajardo, who’s works for NLEX as a security officer, will also be someone to watch out for as well as he locked-up NorthPort with four steals on top of a team-high 20 points.
PREDICTION:
Handicap: Meralco (-3.5)
Total: The total goes under 198.
