Mallari leads Mahindra past NLEX in battle of bottom feeders

Naveen Ganglani

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Mallari leads Mahindra past NLEX in battle of bottom feeders
Mallari misses a triple-double by one assist, but does more than enough to lead Mahindra past NLEX

MANILA, Philippines – Alex Mallari had the best game of his PBA career, finishing with 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 9 assists to lead the Mahindra Floodbusters past the NLEX Road Warriors, 106-96, on Friday, January 27, at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay.

Mallari, who recorded a career-high in points, also had 3 steals and shot 12-of-20 from the field to give his team its third win in 10 games this conference. 

“He missed a triple-double by one assist today. Everybody’s really bought in to how he leads our team,” Mahindra head coach Chris Gavina said about his leading playmaker after the game. It was a victorious birthday celebration for Gavina, who turned 38-years-old.

Reden Celda added 18 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals for the Floodbusters, while Russel Escoto had 12 points in the first half before getting stretchered out of the playing court towards the end of the second period. 

Escoto injured his left knee during a box-out and didn’t return to the game.

“I told them to dedicate this game for Russel. I’m praying his injury isn’t that severe… his growth has really been tremendous for us,” Gavina said.

Mahindra only led by one, 82-81, with a little over 9 minutes to go before Mallari went on a personal 7-0 run to put his team ahead by 3 possessions. The Road Warriors could not make it a close game from there.

NLEX, which fell to 2-10 in head coach Yeng Guiao’s first conference with the franchise, was led by the 17 points of Eric Camson.

The Road Warriors will end their conference campaign against Ginebra, while the Floodbusters will take on Star. 

Scores:

Mahindra (106): Mallari 30, Celda 18, Escoto 12, Galanza 11, Apinan 10, Revilla 9, Deutchman 6, Ballesteros 5, Paniamogan 3, Eriobu 2, Yee 0, Elorde 0, Teng 0, Salva 0

NLEX (96): Camson 17, Guinto 13, Baracael 10, Khobuntin 9, Lastimosa 9, Alas 8, Rios 6, J. Villanueva 6, Monfort 5, Lanete 4, Taulava 4, Soyud 2, Gotladera 2, E. Villanueva 1

Quarter scores: 22-27, 57-49, 77-77, 106-96 – Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!