‘Snubbed’ Don Trollano eclipses shooting record of Allan Caidic, 2 others

Don Trollano got a pat on the back from some players waiting for the start of another game in the PBA Governor’s Cup Thursday after a career performance that led NLEX to the top of the double advantage to defeat in the quarterfinals.

“Hindi mo pa siningkwenta (You don’t try and get 50),” one Magnolia player told Trollano, who responded with a smile before heading to the press room for a postgame interview after scoring 44 points in NLEX’s 142-125 win. Terrafirma at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“I was really told by Asi [Taulava] to ‘go get 50’ because today is my 50th birthday and I wanted to get it for him,” Trollano later said in the interview room. “But in the end it didn’t happen.”

It was an afternoon to remember for Trollano and another reason why many felt he was snubbed from a spot in the PBA All-Star Game this month in Passi City, Iloilo.

He has a strong chance of becoming the first local player in five years to reach the half-century mark, before running out of gas at payday. Still, Trollano’s nine straight three-pointers are a new league mark, while his scoring streak tied NorthPort’s Robert Bolick for the most in a game this season.

NLEX relationship record

“I want him to shoot. I want him to score,” NLEX coach Frankie Lim said of Trollano. “I thought he did that [PBA legend] Allan Caidic will make it. I like him [and] I like my team.”

Trollano’s achievement broke the record of eight straight triples shared by Allan Caidic in 1991, Renren Ritualo in 2005 and Von Pessumal in 2019.

As a team, NLEX hit 23 triples to tie for the league record three times. But coach Frankie Lim said the seventh win in 10 matches was the most important number.

“We need this win to maintain our position in the top four,” said Lim, who recently celebrated his birthday despite being born on a leap day 63 years ago.

Trollano agreed.

“We really need this win because we are trying to reach the top four and have a double advantage to beat. We can’t lose because the chances can go down,” he said.

Magnolia wins

NLEX needs to defeat San Miguel Beer on March 15 in the final elimination round assignment to gain the advantage of a second chance to beat in the quarterfinals.

Lim, who is in his second conference as NLEX coach, paid tribute to Trollano, who has established himself this season as one of the pillars of NLEX after years of finding his niche with Rain or Shine, TNT and Blackwater.

And winning there shows why. Trollano’s 24 points in the third helped the Road Warriors pull away from Dyip and end the contest by making 17 of 23 shots.

Import Wayne Selden Jr. dropped 38 points, as he and Trollano nearly became the first teammates to score at least 40 in a game since Caidic and Terrance Bailey broke the feat in 1991.

Despite 38 points from another All-Star snub in Juami Tiongson, Terrafirma dropped the fifth straight game and fell to a record of 2-7 (win-loss).

After Magnolia beat NorthPort in the second game, 129-109, Dyip officially missed the conference quarterfinals for the 17th straight time. The Hotshots used a 42-16 second quarter to run away from Batang Pier.

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