By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter
THE NLEX Road Warriors outlasted the Alaska Aces, 84-74, in their battle of middling teams in Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup action on Thursday at the Don Honorio Ventura State University (DHVSU) Gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.
NLEX played firmer late in the second half to turn things around on its way to booking its third win in five matches in the season-opening Philippine Basketball Association tournament.
The contest got off to a competitive start with the teams not giving much headway to one another.
The Road Warriors were on top by a slim margin, 20-19, at the end of the first quarter and continued to hold sway at the break, 38-37.
Alaska came out on a better footing at the start of the third quarter, outscoring NLEX, 15-4, in the first five minutes of the frame to take a 52-42 lead.
But the Road Warriors regained their footing after on the lead of guards Kevin Alas and Jericho Cruz and veteran big man JR Quinahan.
They went on an 11-0 run to reclaim the lead, 53-52 by the 2:49 mark and stayed ahead, 59-55, heading into the final quarter.
At the start of the fourth, action continued to be nip-and-tuck, with the count standing at 69-68, and NLEX ahead, with 6:40 left to play.
NLEX, however, created distance after, going on an 11-3 blast in the next three minutes to build an 80-71 advantage.
The Aces narrowed the gap to 80-64 but would not get any closer than that as the Road Warriors went on to close things out.
Mr. Quinahan led the balanced scoring by NLEX with 18 points while Mr. Alas had 17 to go along with seven rebounds and three assists.
Mr. Cruz and Kevin Ighalo, meanwhile, each had 15 points in the win.
For Alaska, which dropped to 2-4 in the ongoing tournament, it was Maverick Ahanmisi who led with 17 points, followed by Michael DiGregorio with 16.
“It’s tough to play in a new environment, new court and under strict protocols. There were a lot of adjustments for us,” said NLEX coach Yeng Guiao after their win and first game back after the month-long stoppage of PBA play because of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) concerns.
NLEX played without key cogs Kiefer Ravena (in Japan to temporarily play there), Anthony Semerad (wife gave birth) and Raul Soyud (injured).
PBA games on Friday will have the Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok (4-1) taking on the Blackwater Bossing (0-5) at 12:30 p.m., Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings (2-2) against the Terrafirma Dyip (1-4) at 3 p.m., and TnT Tropang Giga (4-0) versus the Meralco Bolts (5-1) at 6 p.m.