NLEX wingman Robbie Herndon buried a crushing three-pointer from the deep left corner that left Phoenix guard RR Garcia covering his face with his jersey in agony last night.
While the Fuel Masters struggled, the Road Warriors showed how it’s done, scoring a 100-95 decision for its second win in as many games in Group B action of the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Herndon’s dagger of a triple pushed the Road Warriors’ lead to 99-95 after a Garcia layup pulled the Fuel Masters to within 95-96 with 30.2 seconds to go.
Herndon’s answer proved to be the most jarring of blows as Garcia tried all his might to challenge the shot–just two steps late.
Coach Jong Uichico said his charges gave up on the defensive end when Phoenix erased their edge in the fourth quarter but proved they wanted it more in scoring a big follow up to a 104-87 drubbing of the Blackwater Bossing four days ago and rose to 2-0 in their group in a tie with the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
The Fuel Masters failed to rebound from a similarly close 107-111 loss to the San Miguel Beermen last Wednesday and fell to 0-2.
“This game’s scenario was like our last where we were able to weather the storm earlier.
Tonight, we weathered the storm a little bit late, and they (Fuel Masters) got the lead,” Uichico said. “What’s good was I think we regained our composure but during that stretch we lost our composure.
“We lost our defensive rules. We lost everything and our opponents pounced on that. We were struggling on the bench with what to do, thinking about what was wrong. Nothing was wrong except that we lost our defensive execution,” he added.
Import Myke Henry scattered a game-high 37 points, on top of nine rebounds, and five assists for NLEX while Anthony Semerad chipped in 13 markers, two boards, a dime.
Bolick also had 11 points, seven caroms, and nine feeds while Dominic Fajardo added 10 and three for the Road Warriors.
NLEX raced to a 44-21 spread in the second quarter before settling for a 53-30 advantage at the half.
The Fuel Masters razed the deficit to 67-76 behind Tyler Tio, reinforcement Jayveous MacKinnis, and Jason Perkins heading into the payoff period.
A Garcia four-pointer gave Phoenix a 93-89 buffer, still 2:42 left, but the Road Warriors simply did not falter when it mattered most.
Garica showed the way for the Fuel Masters with 18 points, three boards, and four assists while McKinnis had 15 markers and 14 rebounds.
Perkins, Javee Mocon, and Tio got 13, 12, and 10, respectively.
