MANILA – NLEX Road Warriors stretched their winning run to three after taking down San Miguel Beermen, 124-90, in the 2020 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup at the AUF Sports Arena and Cultural Center in Pampanga last night.
Michael Miranda had a perfect game of 22 points, on eight-of-eight shooting on field, including four-of-four from three-point line while Kevin Alas added 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists as the Road Warriors moved up to 4-5.
Ilonggo Kiefer Ravena had a near triple-double 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists while JR Quinahan and Ilonggo Jericho Cruz contributed double-figures 14 and 11 for NLEX.
From a tight exchange early in the opening quarter, the Road Warriors surged to a 36-25 lead via conversions from Alas, Ravena and Negrense Raul Soyud. It grew to 50-29 early in the second period, but the Beermen rallied to as close as 41-52.
That was the closest the Beermen has come, however, NLEX widened the lead anew with shots from Ravena and Kris Porter for a 67-47 at the half before breaking the game wide further in the second half for its biggest edge at 113-75.
Ilonggo Paul Zamar finished the match with career-best 23 points while Von Pessumal and Moala Tautuaa added 11 and 10 marker respectively as the defending champions Beermen drop to a 5-4 W-L record.
Meanwhile, already eliminated TerraFirma Dyip finally tasted a victory inside the bubble following a 110-101 triumph over Blackwater Elite. The Dyip has improved to 1-7 while the Elite drop to 2-6.
After taking the lead in the first two quarters, TerraFirma struggled in the third period as Blackwater snagged an 81-80 edge before Dyip restored order early in the fourth period at 100-94 on consecutive shots from Jaymar Perez.
The Elite cut the deficit to 97-100 but Dyip went for the kill with more baskets from Perez and back-to-back triples from Juan Miguel Tiongson with over a minute left.
Perez finished the match with 27 points while rookie Roosevelt Adams added double-double 20 markers and 16 rebounds for the Dyip. Rommel Nino Canaleta tallied 29 points for the Elite.
BOX SCORE:
NLEX 124 – Miranda 22, Alas 19, Ravena 14, Quinahan 14, Cruz 11, Semerad 10, Porter 9, Soyud 6, Ighalo 6, McAloney 5, Galanza 4, Taulava 2, Paniamogan 2, Ayonayon 0, Varilla 0.
SAN MIGUEL 90 – Zamar 23, Pessumal 11, Tautuaa 10, Ross 9, Cabagnot 9, Santos 8, Comboy 8, Alolino 7, Mamaril 4, Gamalinda 1, Escoto 0, De Guzman 0.
QUARTERSCORES:
Q1, 36-25; Q2, 67-47; Q3, 91-65; Q4, 124-90./PN
