MANILA – NLEX Road Warriors suffered back-to-back defeats and settled for fourth place in the 2018 Asia League Summer Super 8 at the Macao East Asian Games Dome in Macau, China.
NLEX failed to salvage a third-place finish on Sunday after elimination round tormentor ET Land Elephants of South Korea defeated it 62-67.
Road Warriors was close to turning things around after falling behind early in the game when bruiser Michael Miranda was tagged with an unsportsmanlike foul after landing a hard hit on the face of Elephants’ Jung Young Sam.
Jung made four free throws and turned a 61-56 lead into a 65-56 advantage with less than two minutes to go.
NLEX had its last push 62-65 but Miranda committed another unsportsmanlike foul – thereby dooming their chances.
“We’re just thankful that we were able to participate in this tournament,” said NLEX head coach Yeng Guiao. “We’re looking forward to next time if ever we’re invited again.”
In the semifinals Saturday, NLEX fell short on its bid for a comeback in the finals when it suffered a 63-75 defeat in the hands of China’s Guangzhou Long Lions.
Road Warriors had a flat start – it was down by as much as 18 points in the second quarter before going on a 12-2 run in the third to come to within 46-48 on a basket by Mark Tallo.
Long Lions pulled away for a double-digit lead early in the fourth. NLEX had its last push 58-64 on a basket from JR Quiñahan before China unleashed an 11-5 scoring run to raise the lead to 12.
Shirelijian Muxtar led Long Lions with 21 points, spiked by four triples. Tallo led NLEX with 16 points to go along with five rebounds and three assists./PN
