Road Warriors zoom to PBA D-League finals anew

Jeckster Apinan (light/big chill) vs Ronald Pascual. Nuki Sabio/PBA

MANILA, Philippines – NLEX, the only champion of the PBA D-League since its inception, seized another chance to end another conference in a flourish.

The Road Warriors finished off the Big Chill 80-71 in Game 2 of their semifinal series on Thursday at the Blue Eagle Gym to keep their perfect attendance in all the league’s five final rounds.

The defending champions locked the win with a solid third quarter, as they frustrated every run by the Superchargers.

“I thought we played good defense. We made stops and scored in transition. That was the key in this game,” said NLEX coach Boyet Fernandez.

Big Chill pulled within 40-43 on a lay-up by Janus Lozada with 3:27 left in the third but NLEX uncorked the next 10 points to stretch the lead to 13.

The Road Warriors were never threatened after that as Kevin Alas and Kirk Long alternated baskets to keep the game under their control.

Long scored a team-best 12 and Alas had 10 as all from Road Warriors’ side chipped in at least two markers.

Guard Terrence Romeo, meanwhile, had 25 points on 25 shots (15 from the three-point area) to pace the Superchargers, who missed the mark anew this year.

Janus Lozada and Jeckster Apinan had 13 points apiece, while Apinan pulled down 20 boards for his fifth double-double of the season.

Big Chill stayed in striking distance with NLEX all game, but couldn’t get the right offensive push to taste the lead.