Road Warriors roll to quarterfinals
NLEX cruised its way to the quarterfinals, rolling past Rain or Shine with a wire-to-wire 110-99 victory in the PBA Governors’ Cup yesterday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Kevin Alas headlined the Road Warriors’ barrage, ignited by a searing 31-8 start, with 28 points on four triples as they climbed to 6-3 to join TNT (8-1), San Miguel (7-2) and Converge (6-2) in the playoffs.
Wayne Selden Jr. carded 21 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals while Don Trollano had 20 points and eight rebounds in NLEX’s balanced attack to hand coach Frankie Lim a playoff appearance gift only in his second conference with the squad.
“We’re thankful we’re in the quarters but actually, we’re looking for a spot in the Top 4. We have to still win games,” said Lim as NLEX eyes to secure a playoff bonus pending its last assignments against Terrafirma and SMB. Nambatac fired 26 for ROS (2-6). Earlier, Kevin Murphy took over in the clutch as NorthPort sailed to its second straight win at the expense of skidding Blackwater, 110-104, to keep its playoff hopes alive at 2-6. The scores: First Game NorthPort 110 – Murphy 47, Bolick 24, Calma 10, Tolentino 9, Zamar 6, Sumang 6, Chan 3, Taha 2, Santos 2, Munzon 1, Balagasay 0, Caperal 0.
Blackwater 104 – Glover 20, Banal 19, Casio 14, Ayonayon 12, Taha 9, Ular 8, Suerte 7, Rosario 7, Ilagan 6, Hill 2, Escoto 0, DiGregorio 0, Amer 0. Quarterscores: 25-21, 49-58, 74-78, 110-104 Second Game NLEX 110 – Alas 28, Selden 21, Trollano 20, Miranda 8, Goliguez 8, Rosales 8, Ganuelas-Rosser 7, Nieto 6, Pascual 4.
Rain or Shine 99 – Nambatac 26, Norwood 13, Demusis 12, Santillan 10, Mamuyac 7, Ildefonso 7, Borboran 7, Caracut 5, Belga 4, Smith 3, Yap 3, Ponferrada 2, Asistio 0, Clarito 0.
Quarterscores: 33-13, 62-35, 80-66, 110-99