Ismael Romero didn’t just fuel Meralco to a 92-74 win over Macau in the East Asia Super League (EASL) on Saturday night here at Cebu Coliseum, he also broke a record in doing so.
Romero’s monster double-double of 25 points and 28 rebounds officially broke the single-game group stage record for most rebounds snagged by a player since John Mooney in 2023.
‘Somebody getting 28 rebounds doesn’t happen very often in basketball,’ coach Nenad Vucinic said.
‘He was dominating the boards, he was playing well defensively too. Ismael was big for us, definitely. He controlled the ball under the basket.’
Mooney set the record with a double-double of 22 points and 22 rebounds when his Chiba Jets trampled the Anyang Jung Kwan Jang Red Boosters, 102-69.
Coincidentally, the only player who tied that number in recent history was Akil Mitchell, who played import for Meralco last year.
Mitchell dropped 33 points and 22 rebounds to fuel the Bolts to an 81-80 win over the Busan KCC Egis last year.
Romero’s bruising performance helped the Bolts cruise to their second straight win for a 2-2 record in Group B.
‘Macau is a bit undersized and that helped him as well. Of course, our poor shooting from the three-point line helped him get some offensive rebounds as well,’ Vucinic added in jest.