NLEX Road Warriors vented their ire on Columbian Dyip, 107-97, to break a three-game slide and finally break into the win column in the 2019 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.
Poy Erram continued to impress by leading the Road Warriors’ charge with a game-high 23 points and 10 rebounds for a nice double-double showing.
He got plenty of support from Ken Ighalo, Mike Magat and Kevin Alas, who added 19, 14 and 13 markers, respectively, for more firepower.
Fighting with a sense of urgency from the start, the erstwhile winless Road Warriors unleashed their best game of the season by far.
NLEX nailed its first win and improved to 1-3 while Columbian slipped to a 2-2 mark.
The game was practically a cruise for NLEX as it virtually broke free right after one.
Led by Erram, Alas, Magat and Ighalo’s collective efforts early on, the Road Warriors swiftly uncorked an avalanche of points to take a gigantic 39-16 cushion at the end of one.
There was no looking back from there as NLEX even upped its edge to 26 points, 68-42, at the turn.
The shell-shocked Dyip was in a contest at no point. Columbian was only able to trim its deficit in the second half and make the final count respectable.
By halftime, Erram, Ighalo and Alas were all in double-figures scoring already.
JR Reyes led Columbian with a team-high 17 points while CJ Perez and Rashawn McCarthy each had 16 in the Dyip’s losing cause.
The scores:
NLEX Road Warriors 107 – Erram 23, Ighalo 19, Magat 14, Alas 13, Paniamogan 11, Galanza 9, Taulava 6, Tallo 5, Porter 4, Tiongson 3, Soyud 0, Baguio 0, Fonacier 0.
Columbian Dyip 97 – Reyes 17, Perez 16, McCarthy 16, Celda 14, Escoto 10, Cahilig 8, Calvo 7, Faundo 5, Cabrera 2, Agovida 2, Corpuz 0, Camson 0, Khobuntin 0, Tabi 0.
Quarter scores: 39-16, 68-42, 85-78, 107-97.