NLEX long-range missiles crush, eliminate Elite

Three NLEX gunners fired away at least five three-pointers each and the Road Warriors knocked in 21 treys in all in a fiery shooting they displayed to blast the Blackwater Elite, 122-101, and boost their playoff drive in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

Unheralded players Philip Paniamogan, Bong Galanza and Kenneth Ighalo led NLEX’s display of great marksmanship, combining for 16 triples as the Road Warriors enhanced their quarterfinals bid with a 4-5 win-loss card.

With his own stellar game with 20 points and 10 rebounds, JP Erram proved to be among the executioners of his former team which bombed out of the playoff race with an eighth loss against only two wins.

Later in the night, Scottie Thompson delivered a career-best 27 points that went with 11 rebounds in a big double-double effort and Japeth Aguilar churned out his own double-double with 16 markers and 12 boards as Barangay Ginebra outfought Magnolia, 97-93, in an overtime battle.

The Kings improved to 5-3 at fourth place and thus stayed in the fight for No. 2 seeding in the quarterfinals versus the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (8-3) and the TNT KaTropa (6-3). The scores: First Game NLEX 122 – Paniamogan 25, Erram 20, Galanza 18, Ighalo 17, Tiongson 13, Quinahan 8, Porter 6, Tallo 5, Soyud 4, Lao 4, Baguio 2, Taulava 0, Magat 0, Varilla 0.

Blackwater 101 – Maliksi 20, Digregorio 17, Tratter 16, Desiderio 12, Belo 11, Cortez 6, Banal 6, Dario 6, Sumang 5, Jose 2, Sena 0, Al-Husaaini 0, Javier 0, Quarterscores: 23-22, 57-42, 89-72, 122-101 Second Game Ginebra 97 – Thompson 27, Aguilar 16, Slaughter 11, Tenorio 10, Dela Cruz 8, Mercado 8, Ferrer 7, Chan 5, Mariano 0.

Magnolia 93 – Barroca 23, Jalalon 22, Sangalang 15, Lee 10, Brondial 8, Reavis 6, Dela Rosa 4, Simon 3, Gamalinda 2, Ramos 0, Melton 0, Pascual 0, Herndon 0.

Quarterscores: 19-15, 43-35, 63-62, 85-85, 97-93