MANILA – NLEX Road Warriors nearly wasted a double-digit edge before hanging on to beat Meralco Bolts, 105-99, in the 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
After seeing its 20-point edge trimmed to 96-100, the Road Warriors steadied the ship with back-to-back layups from Ilonggos Jericho Cruz and Kiefer Ravena before Oluseyi Ashaoulu sealed the win with a free throw.
JR Quinahan caught fire from outside with five triples to finish with 19 points while Ashaoulu had double-double 17 points and 13 rebounds.
The Road Warriors moved up to 2-0 slate.
Ravena and Kenneth Ighalo also dished out double-figures offense with 15 points each while Larry Fonacier and Cruz added 12 and 11 markers, respectively.
From a seesaw battle in the first period, the Road Warrior started to create distance in the second period to build a 55-46 halftime edge which later grew to 70-55 in the third canto on triples by Quinahan and inside shots from Ighalo and Cruz.
NLEX’s lead grew to its largest at 83-63 on back-to-back treys by Ravena and Pedrito Galanza.
Meralco made its last push in the fourth behind Allen Durham and Raymond Almazan to cut the deficit to 96-100.
Durham posted double-double 32 points and 19 rebounds, while Almazan chipped in 17 points and 17 rebounds and Baser Amer chimed 15 markers as the Bolts dropped to 1-1 win-loss card.
In the second game, defending champions Magnolia Hotshots broke loose in the second period to tally a resounding 96-80 victory over the NorthPort Batang Pier to tie their victim with 1-1 win-loss slate.
Trailing 16-23 after the first 12 minutes, the Hotshots went on a huge surge in the second period as they outscored the Batang Pier, 37-8, en route to building its largest lead at 31 points.
Ian Sangalang posted 28 points and nine rebounds, while Romeo Travis flirted with triple-double with 17 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists for the Hotshots. Mychal Ammons and Kevin Ferrer had 18 points each for the losing Batang Pier./PN
