GAMES TOMORROW
(PhilSports Arena, Pasig)
5 p.m. – Converge vs. NorthPort
7:30 p.m. – Phoenix vs. Ginebra
THE scoreboard showed NLEX was ahead by a mile against Terrafirma but Road Warriors playmaker Kevin Alas still chose to cut loose from the porous Dyip defense last night.
Making mincemeat of a hapless foe, NLEX scored a runaway 117-87 dismantling of Terrafirma for its fifth straight win in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.
Alas took it strong to the hoop, scored on a one-hander, and drew a foul from the Dyip’s CJ Catapusan. He completed the three-point play that gave the Road Warriors a 99-78 spread at the 5:09 mark of the fourth quarter.
Despite showing some signs of keeping their feet off the pedal, NLEX coach Jong Uichico was mainly pleased with the way his charges showed up with their A-Game after an 89-86 escape over the Ginebra Kings last week.
“Everybody played well. Everybody had the right mindset. But during the course of the game, we saw some complacent lapses which resulted in some mistakes like giving up bail out fouls and shots, things that we have tried to avoid,” Uichico said. “I think we should have played smarter and when they turned the ball over, it’s a sign of being sloppy, and we got complacent because we had a big lead.
“They (Dyip) caught up but good thing our players recovered. But generally, they came out with the right framework, right mindset,” he added.
Bull-strong Fil-Canadian big man Brandon Ramirez notched 21 points he paired with four rebounds for the Road Warriors after suffering a broken jaw the last time out. JB Bahio backed him up with a double-double of 17 markers and 10 boards, to go with four assists.
Robbie Herndon and Javee Mocon also had 15 and 13 points, respectively, as NLEX rose to 5-1 in the season-ending tourney.
Terrafirma lost for the fifth time in a row, counting a 74-110 shellacking at the hands of the TNT Tropang 5G last Friday, and reeled off to 1-6.
The Road Warriors blitzed to a 63-44 lead at the break they increased to 87-70 with 12 minutes to go.
NLEX met little to no resistance from the Dyip from there.
Kevin Ferrer carried the fight for Terrafirma with 23 points and two caroms while Louie Sangalang added 15 and 11.
Mark Nonoy and Brent Paraiso also got 11 and 10, respectively, for the Dyip.
So dominant were the Road Warriors that top gun Robert Bolick only had three points, although he did pull down eight rebounds and issue 10 feeds, but those hardy mattered.
