THE NLEX Road Warriors are playing like a completely different team as they grabbed solo leadership in the 2017 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup with a 95-91 come-from-behind victory over the Phoenix Petroleum Fuel Masters at the Smart Araneta Coliseum yesterday, July 30.
The Fuel Masters seemed to have the game in hand and were threatening to pull away after Joseph Eriobu scored from just underneath the goal to peg the count at 78-68 for Phoenix with 8:46 to go in the game. The Road Warriors, thanks to baskets by Carlo Lastimosa and Aaron Fuller, engineered a 9-0 run to cut the gap to just a point, 78-77, with 6:40 to go.
Eriobu scored again from just underneath but JR Quiñahan and Alex Mallari countered with baskets of their own as the Road Warriors grabbed the lead, 81-80, with 5:10 to go in the match.
Lastimosa and Mallari would preside over the NLEX finish as they scored key baskets to fuel a 9-5 run to push the Road Warriors ahead for good, 90-85, with 1:09 left to play. Doug Kramer would score on a layup to cut the gap to three, 90-87, but Mallari himself drilled a three-pointer to seal the outcome of the match 93-87, with just nine seconds left to play.
Field goals by Eugene Phelps and free throws by Kevin Alas finalized the count at 95-91.
NLEX (4-0) thus vaulted to solo leadership. The four victories by the Road Warriors, in just their first four games this third conference, tied their total number of wins the first two conferences this PBA season.
Trailing the Road Warriors are the Meralco Bolts (3-0), the Star Hotshots (2-0), the San Miguel Beermen (1-0) and TNT KaTropa (1-0).
The other teams include Phoenix (2-2), the GlobalPort Batang Pier (1-1), the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (1-2) and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel (0-1).
Tied at the bottom of the standings are the Kia Picanto (0-3), the Alaska Aces (0-3) and the Blackwater Elite (0-3).
NLEX coach Yeng Guiao downplayed his team’s early success saying that it was still too early in the conference.
“It’s a nice win for us. We’re starting to look like a team because we’re able to hold our own and pull through in crisis situations. Hindi ko alam kung totoo ito o kunwa-kunwarian pa lang. Next game against Ginebra. That’ll be a good measure,” said Guiao.
Mallari and Juami Tiongson took the floor in the third quarter and promptly established their presence. Mallari converted back-to-back layup attempts. Tiongson converted his own pair of layups then fed import Aaron Fuller for a driving layup as the Road Warriors grabbed the lead, 58-56, with 6:21 to go in the third.
The Fuel Masters came right back at the Road Warriors. Karl Dehesa drilled a three-pointer then fed Doug Kramer for a layup. He then found RJ Jazul open at the short corner for an open three-pointer and the Fuel Masters were right back on top by six points, 64-58 with 4:30 to go in the third.
The Road Warriors cut the gap on field goals by JR Quiñahan, Larry Fonacier and Aaron Fuller but the Fuel Masters managed to hang on to a five-point, 69-64, lead after three quarters.
Phelps scored on a layup followed by free throws by Joseph Eriobu and Matthew Wright to push the Fuel Masters to a six-point, 39-33 lead with 2:44 to go in the second period.
Phelps converted another field goal followed by a coast-to-coast fastbreak layup by Cyrus Baguio for the Fuel Masters. Carlo Lastimosa and Kevin Alas countered with their own field goals for the Road Warriors. Asi Taulava then pivoted into the paint then scored from just underneath the goal to cut the Phoenix lead to just four points, 39-43, at halftime.
The scores:
NLEX 95—Fuller 18, Mallari 14, Lastimosa 14, Alas 13, Quinahan 10, Fonacier 5, Monfort 4, Soyud 4, Tiongson 4, Taulava 4, Rios 3, Baracael 2, J. Villanueva 0, Al-Hussaini 0, Ighalo 0.
PHOENIX 91—Phelps 31, Wright 17, Baguio 8, Jazul 8, Dehesa 8, Eriobu 7, Kramer 4, Intal 4, Lanete 4, W. Wilson 0, Alolino 0, Borboran 0.
Quarters: 14-15, 39-43, 64-69, 95-91.