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Bolts survive Bolick’s 48 points, draw first blood vs Road Warriors

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino slugger Reymart Gaballo absorbed a tough first-round knockout loss against Mexico’s Kenbun Torres in their bantamweight clash Friday evening at the Midas Hotel and Casino in Pasay City.

The two fighters were trading blows early on in the fight, with Gaballo hitting punches.

But things quickly turned south as the Filipino was caught by a counter. At the 1:23 mark of the round, a left hook dropped the former world title challenger for the first time.

After beating the 10-count, Torres kept the pressure on, landing heavy hits. A left uppercut off a combination knocked “The Assassin” down for the second time.

Groggy, the 27-year-old pride of General Santos City tried to survive the round, but the Mexican smelled blood.

Landing punches from everywhere, a booming left hand from Torres sent Gaballo to the canvas for good.

The Filipino dropped to a 27-2 win-loss record. Both of his professional defeats came in the way of knockouts.

The 36-year-old Mexican ros e to 14-5 with 10 knockouts.

MANILA, Philippines — The Meralco Bolts weat hered the 48-point explosion of Robert Bolick to hang on against the NLEX Road Warriors, 97-93, in Game 1 of their PBA Philippine Cup best-of-three quarterfinals series Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Allein Maliksi led the six Bolts in double figures with 22 markers off the bench. He also hauled down four rebounds.

With the Road Warriors trailing by just one, 83-84, with a split from the line by Bolick, Bong Quinto dialed in a 3-pointer from beyond the arc to give Meralco a four-point cushion, 87-83.

A Bolick deuce gave NLEX a one-point lead, 93-92, with a minute remaining, but Maliksi’s freebies gave the Bolts the lead once again.

On the other end, Michael Miranda missed a game-leading jumpshot. A miss-and-make from the charity stripe by Chris Newsome gave the Road Warriors a window of opportunity to tie or take the lead, 95-93.

But Richie Rodger committed a turnover in the next possession. Two pressure-packed freebies by Maliksi iced the game as Bolick missed a 3-pointer with time winding down.

NLEX led by as much as 12 points, 56-44, at the start of the third quarter with a jumper by Michael Miranda.

The Bolts though climbed back, cutting the deficit to two, 60-62 after a Maliksi jumper.

A 11-3 run capped by a triple by Miranda gave the Road Warriors an eight point advantage once again, 73-65, but an 8-2 counter-attack turned the game into a two possession affair, 73-75, heading into the fourth canto.

Raymond Almazan had a solid game with 15 points and six rebounds. Anjo Caram added 14, while Newsome and Chris Banchero provided 12 markers apiece.

Quinto chipped in 11 and six off the bench for Meralco.

Bolick went on 12-of-25 field goal shooting and had an 18-of-19 clip from the free throw line.

Miranda was the only other NLEX player in double figures with 14.

Meralco will try to advance to the next round of the playoffs on Sunday, 6:15 p.m., at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.

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