NLEX survives Kia scare
THE NLEX Road Warriors got their PBA Philippine Cup campaign to a good start after beating the Kia Picanto, 119-115, in their tournament debut yesterday but not after being made to sweat at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
Faced a hot- shooting Kia squad, NLEX rode the game-long brilliance of rookie Kiefer Ravena and big plays from its veterans down the stretch to survive the determined thrust of the Picanto and bag its first win in the seasonopening Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) tournament.
NLEX got off to a strong start as it built a seven-point cushion, 12- 5, in the first two and a half minutes.
But the Picanto would start finding their shot, outscoring the Road Warriors, 17-3, in the next three minutes to take a 22-15 advantage.
It was a leverage they would use to establish a 40-36 lead at the end of the opening frame.
Boosted by its showing in the first quarter, Kia maintained control of the match to begin the second canto.
Getting contributions from various sources, the Picanto created a 61-49 distance at the halfway mark.
The Road Warriors though would stop the bleeding as the quarter progressed to cut their deficit to just four points, 68-64, at the half.
The third period saw the two teams jousting to establish control.
They fought to a 76-all affair at the 7:21 mark before Kia pulled away anew with a 9-0 blast for an 85-76 lead with a little under five minutes to go.
Mr. Ravena then ignited an NLEX rally that saw it overtaking Kia, 88-87, with 1:32 remaining.
But the Picanto would still reestablish control as the quarter expired, 92-90.
Juami Tiongson gave the lead immediately back to the Road Warriors, 93-92, with a triple to open the payoff period.
The two went back and forth thereafter, holding each other to a stalemate at 99 with nine minutes left on the clock.
The count stood at 107-106 with NLEX on top at the fiveminute mark of the fourth period.
Kia continued to crowd NLEX after, holding the latter to a 111-111 deadlock as the game entered the last two minutes.
Alex Mallari gave the lead back to the Road Warriors, 113111, with 1:34 to go only to be answered back by Jay-R Reyes eight seconds later to level the count anew at 113-all.
A four- point play by veteran Larry Fonacier with 1: 06 left on the clock gave NLEX more breathing space.
But Mr. Reyes cut the Road Warriors’ lead to two, 117-115, with 56 seconds remaining with a fadeaway jumper in the low block.
Kia had chances to further cut down its deficits or even take the lead but its attempts proved futile.
Two free throws by JR Quiñahan with 4.3 seconds left iced the game for the Road Warriors.
Mr. Ravena finished with a double- double of 18 points and 12 assists to go along with seven rebounds and two steals.
Kevin Alas and Mike Miranda added 14 points each while Alex Mallari had 13.
Rabeh Al- Hussaini and Messrs. Fonacier and Quiñahan scored 12 points apiece for the Road Warriors.
Eric Camson, meanwhile, topscored for Kia with 24 points, with Rashawn McCarthy adding 14 markers.
“Kia has improved a lot with their perimeter game and offense. We struggled in this game but we will take this win,” said NLEX coach Yeng Guiao after their victory.
“Kiefer played well. And I have no doubt he can lead this team as a rookie,” added the NLEX coach as he spoke of their prized rookie Ravena, who emerged as player of the game. —