ILAGAN CITY — Strange as it may seem, but Justin Brownlee didn’t have much difficulty fitting in quickly in joining his long-time rivals-turned allies at the Meralco Bolts.
The six-time PBA champion played his first game as a member of the Bolts and barely showed any problems sharing the spotlight and joining forces with import rival Rondae-Hollis Jefferson as well as his bitter finals nemesis playing for Meralco.
Together, they played beautiful music and displayed that harmonious partnership in carving out a hard-earned 93-91 win over the Macau Black Bears in the East Asia League 2025 season at the Capital Arena here.
“It feels good. It’s definitely a relief,” said Brownlee. “Meralco has always been a tough team, playing hard and of course, they’ve got talented players. Playing with these guys, it’s definitely a relief. You can see how they run their practice and the chemistry you had on the team. They have something special ever since I came to the PBA. It’s really an enjoyable thing with the Bolts.”
Brownlee didn’t show signs of struggle adjusting to the system as he pumped in 12 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, but provided that stability up front, especially after Hollis-Jefferson went down with an injury at the latter stretch of the third period and was unable to return.
Hollis-Jefferson could only play 19 minutes, but was able to produce 15 points on top of four rebounds and seven assists, but the Bolts drew solid numbers from the two other reinforcements who stepped up in the absence of TNT’s resident import.
Ismael Romero, the World Cup veteran from Puerto Rico, powered his way for 24 points and 17 rebounds while Sina Vahedi, now considered as the best point guard in Asia, contributed 23 markers while also dishing out five assists and picking up three steals.
Cliff Hodge was also a solid contributor among the local players of Meralco as well as Chris Newsome. The hardworking forward Hodge came away with 10 markers and five boards while Hodge chipped in nine markers for the Bolts, who picked up their third straight victory and put themselves in a better position to advance to the next phase of the tournament.
Hodge, who normally defends Brownlee in all those four championship battles they had — all won by the resident import’s team, Barangay Ginebra — is thrilled to have the Gilas Pilipinas naturalized player on their side now, at least in the EASL.
“I’m glad that he’s now on our side,” said Hodge. “We lost to them in our finals meetings and now we’re trying to take advantage and we’re trying to win a championship together.”
Nenad Vucinic, head coach of the Bolts in the EASL, added that more than the skill set of Brownlee and Hollis-Jefferson, he loves both of these players as persons.
“A lot of things were said about them being great players, but they’re also great human beings,” added Vucinic.
