NLEX survives Alaska scare
Even with a 30-point bulge early in the fourth quarter, NLEX barely survived a scare, relishing a crucial Alaska Milk error in the end to pull out a 96-89 win that enhanced the Road Warriors’ playoff bid in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.
The Road Warriors nearly blew away their 87-57 spread with 9:47 left to play, banking on Kevin Racal’s errant throw-in in the last 12.9 seconds to preserve the win that firmed up their place in the upper half of the chart at 5-4.
“Parang di kami nanalo, kaya sabi ko walang magsecelebrate (We didn’t look like we won the game that’s why I told the guys no one will celebrate),” said NLEX coach Yeng Guiao.
“I thought we would have a comfortable win but I was wrong. We needed a 30-point lead to beat Alaska. And even with that lead, we were not safe,” Guiao added. “There’s a reason why they got six straight wins. They’re just probably due for a loss.”
Alaska coach Alex Compton rued his guys being complacent before putting in their best effort only after they had fallen behind by 30.
“Kaya pala natin yun ganyan, bakit ‘di natin ginawa sa umpisa,” said Compton on their incredible comeback effort that went down the drain in the end.
The Aces suffered their first loss in seven games in 2018, and the team went down to joint second with the Magnolia Hotshots at 6-3, leaving the San Miguel Beermen alone on top at 6-2.
After Racal’s throw-in error, Kiefer Ravena nailed two charities to make it a two-possession game, and the Road Warriors went on to make it 4-0 versus the Aces from last season.
“They had a streak this conference and we had a streak against them since I got to NLEX. Good thing it turned out in our favor in the end,” said Guiao.
It's NLEX's third straight win in eight days after earlier victories over Barangay Ginebra and Meralco.
From the 57-87 count, the Aces made an amazing effort to get back into the game as they scored 19 unanswered points and unleashed a huge 32-5 run in all to threaten within three at 89-92.
Then the Aces got a crack at catching up on successive errors by Kevin Alas – the last giving Alaska the possession with 12.9 ticks to go.
However, Racal bungled their inbounds.
Alas, Ravena, Raul Soyud, Larry Fonacier and JR Quinahan led the way for the NLEX offensively with the five players scoring at least 12 points each.
With his crucial free throws in the dying seconds, Ravena capped a solid all-around game laced by 12 points, 10 assists, six rebounds, two steals and one block against four turnovers.
Alas made 15 markers and eight boards but committed six errors.
The Road Warriors limited themselves to only five errors early on as they raced to a 52-32 halftime lead. —