By JONAS TERRADO
NLEX halted the winning run of Alaska,106-89, Wednesday in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
Kevin Alas scored 15 of his 19 points in the first quarter while import KJ McDaniels and Jericho Cruz put up impressive performances as the Road Warriors leapfrogged the Aces for third place in the standings after picking up their sixth win in nine outings.
The win virtually assures NLEX of a slot in the quarterfinals given to the top eight teams after the eliminations.
McDaniels had 27 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks while Jericho Cruz added 21 points to give NLEX back-to-back wins after a three-game skid.
“Starting out strong has been our battle cry ever since we lost to Phoenix. We started out badly in that game, so we tried to remedy that situation. It was really our focus that we’re able to start well, especially defensively,” said coach Yeng Guiao.
Guiao was referring to its Christmas Day defeat to Phoenix Super LPG that ended NLEX’s 4-0 start in the season-ending tourney.
The loss led to two more before arresting the skid with a win over Blackwater last Friday.
The Road Warriors put an end to a streak of three victories by the Aces, who had been playing well since announcing that the ongoing conference would be their last in the pro league.
Alaska, which cut a 29-point deficit down to 14 in the fourth before losing steam in the end, fell to fourth at 5-3.
Behind Alas’ hot shooting which saw him make three triples in the opening period, the Road Warriors put up 38 points on a 58-percent clip to lead the Aces by 21.
NLEX hiked its lead to 29 on a Kris Porter jumper with more than a minute to go in the third quarter before Alaska tried to pull off a repeat of its 20-point comeback against Terrafirma over the weekend.
The Aces got to within 14 points, 93-79, on a runner by rookie Allyn Bulanadi with 5:42 to go, but Cruz fired back-to-back triples to make it 99-79 for the Road Warriors, two minutes later.
Abu Tratter scored 17 points while import Olu Ashaolu had 14 points, five rebounds, six assists and two steals for Alaska.
The scores:
NLEX 106 — McDaniels 27, Cruz 21, Alas 19, Trollano 10, Ighalo 6, Soyud 5, Nieto 5, Rosales 5, Porter 4, Murrell 2, Magat 2, Varilla 0, Quinahan 0.
ALASKA 89 — Tratter 17, Ashaolu 14, Teng 9, Bulanadi 8, Digregorio 7, Racal 7, Faundo 6, Herndon 6, Ilagan 4, Taha 4, Ahanmisi 3, Adamos 2, Tolomia 2, Stockton 0, Marcelino 0.
Quarters: 38-17, 58-42, 88-61, 106-89.
