INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—NLEX handily put away Big Chill, 70-58, on Thursday to close out the elimination round of the 2014 PBA D-League Foundation Cup with a flawless 9-0 record.
Jake Pascual scored 16 points and Kevin Alas had 15 for the Road Warriors, who earned an outright berth to the semifinals and the luxury of a long break.
“Our goal is to finish in the top two at the end of the elimination round. Whether we could keep the streak going I don’t know. If it happens, then it happens. I don’t want to pressure my players,” said NLEX mentor Boyet Fernandez.
Alas was big in the first half where he scored all but one of his total points which helped NLEX blow the game wide open early.
A three-point play from Alas and freethrows from Ola Adeogun gave the Road Warriors their biggest lead of the game, 38-22, late in the second period.
Janus Lozada and Jeckster Apinan each scored 11 points for the Superchargers, who pulled within three in the third quarter only to have NLEX zoom away again.
Big Chill settled for 5-4 record which could be enough to earn them a spot in the quarterfinal round, depending on the results of the other matches.
RELATED STORIES
NLEX Road Warriors a win from PBA D-League sweep
D-League powerhouse NLEX applies for PBA