WILL a hard-earned breakthrough win galvanize NLEX? Road Warriors coach Yeng Guiao hopes so.
“We earned this win. We earned our breaks. Despite bad calls, despite not getting the breaks, I guess gusto ring manalo,” Guiao said.
“It’s the effort and the commitment to win this game. Huwag lang kaming mapahiya na na-sweep kami ng Ginebra,” he added.
Guiao spoke after NLEX lived to fight another day, hacking out a nail-biting 86-85 escape against defending champion Ginebra last Sunday in Game 3 that trimmed their deficit to 1-2 in their best-of-five semifinals battle in the PBA Governors Cup.
The Road Warriors and the Kings clash anew in Game 4 tomorrow at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
More than avoiding what could have been a sweep, which Guiao described as an “embarrassment” if it happened, Guiao said their triumph could turn the tide in their favor.
“Sabi ko lang sa mga players namin, let’s just save ourselves the embarrassment of being swept. Siguro, isang panalo, hindi na tayo masyadong nakakahiya,” Guiao said.
“Pero sabi ko rin, kapag nanalo tayo, baka mag-iba iyong complexion ng series, magka-chance ulit tayo and they proved that we could beat Ginebra.”
Import Cameron Clark showed the way for NLEX with 21 points, to go with 17 rebounds, four assists, and five steals, while Kevin Alas chipped in 15 markers.
Clark laced his all-around effort with an interception on LA Tenorio’s pass to Justin
Brownlee that led to his three-point play conversion and made it 86-83, only 7.3 ticks left.
Without a timeout, Tenorio ran the length of the court and uncharacteristically opted to go for a layup instead of a three-pointer that could have forced overtime with only .8 seconds left.
Justin Chua and Raoul Soyud also had 13 and 11 points, respectively for NLEX.
Brownlee paced Ginebra with 27 points and 12 rebounds, while Christian Standhardinger, Scottie Thompson, and Tenorio contributed 16, 13, and 10, respectively.
Guiao also heaped praises his charges’ resolve that saw them whittle a 12-point third-quarter deficit.
“They gave me a chance to coach an endgame situation, which did not happen in the first two games. The difference is we won. Iyon ang pinakamalaking difference sa dalawang laro namin,” he said. “We took the lead early, we lost the lead, and we could not sustain our momentum. We were able to hold on until the end game.”
