MANILA – NLEX Road Warriors made its way to the semifinals of the 2021-2022 PBA Governors’ Cup via a 96-80 beating of Alaska Aces in the do-or-die quarterfinals on Saturday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Cameron Clark spearheaded the offense with 24 points and eight rebounds. JR Quiñahan and Kris Rosales chipped in 12 markers apiece.
Bacolodnon Justin Chua and rookie Mike Nieto also hit double figures with 10 markers apiece for the Road Warriors, which will face Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings in the best-of-five semifinals.
Holding to a slim 21-20 lead after the first quarter, the Road Warriors outscored the Aces in the second quarter, 25-11, behind Clark for a 46-31 halftime lead.
NLEX went on with its rampage in the second half with Clark continuing to attack inside and Rosales, Chua and Nieto making their contributions as the lead reached its largest at 24 points.
Mike Saint Ford led the w ay with 14 points. Jeron Teng added 13 markers, while Michael Digregorio and Chris Michael Tolomia chipped in 11 each for the Aces.
This was the Aces’ last game in the PBA after earlier announcing that they were leaving the league at the end of the season.
Meanwhile, the defending champions Kings advanced to the Final Four after overcoming TNT Tropang Giga’s twice-to-beat incentive with a 115-95 domination.
Justin Brownlee spearheaded the offense for the Gin Kings with 29 points, 17 rebounds and seven assists, while Japeth Aguilar supplied 26 markers and seven rebounds.
LA Tenorio contributed 22 markers, Earl Scottie Thompson fell short of triple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, while Christian Standhardinger contributed 10 markers.
BOX SCORE:
NLEX 96 – Clark 24, Quinahan 12, Rosales 12, Chua 10, Nieto 10, Trollano 9, Alas 7, Soyud 7, Varilla 3, Ighalo 2, Murrell 0, Paniamogan 0, Semerad 0.
ALASKA 80 – Saint Fort 14, Teng 13, DiGregorio 11, Tolomia 11, Bulanadi 8, Taha 8, Tratter 6, Ilagan 5, Ahanmisi 4, , Racal 0, Faundo 0.
Quarterscores: 21-20, 46-31, 71-52, 96-80./PN
