NLEX notches first win streak, zooms past Meralco

MANILA, Philippines—Zooming to their first win streak of the conference is the NLEX Road Warriors after they dispatched the Meralco Bolts, 89-76, in their PBA Commissioner’s Cup showing on Friday evening at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

NLEX notched back-to-back wins after taking care of San Miguel on Saturday and gained a 3-4 win-loss card.

Niño Canaleta hit the dagger three from the left corner with 43.5 remaining to put the Road Warriors up 82-74.

Meralco came to as close as 75-72 with 3:30 remaining with Josh Davis driving to the hole for a layup.

Davis, however, got thrown out with 2:46 left in the fourth after committing his sixth foul.

NLEX head coach Boyet Fernandez said their defense was the one thing that fueled them to victory and pestering Davis helped.

“Our defense stepped up, the players started to grasp the defensive system,” Fernandez said. “This win wouldn’t be a reality without the players playing well.”

“Our game plan is to stop Davis. We collapsed on him on defense and attacked him to get him on foul trouble.”

NLEX had an eight-point lead, 68-60, early in the fourth with Mark Borboran scoring on an open drive to the basket with 9:03 remaining.

Meralco, however, slowly chipped away on the lead with Davis the one that brought them to 75-72 until he fouled out which was a tremendous loss for the Bolts.

Al Thornton paced NLEX with 36 points and 16 boards with Canaleta adding 16 points of his own.

Gary David led Meralco with 28 points with Davis adding a 19-point, 11-rebound double-double.

Meralco is now tied with Talk N’ Text and Rain or Shine at first with 5-2 records.

The scores:

NLEX 89–Thornton 36, Canaleta 16, Villanueva J. 8, Taulava 8, Lingganay 7, Borboran 6, Villanueva E. 4, Cardona 2, Apinan 2, Ramos 0, Arboleda H. 0

MERALCO 76–David 28, Davis 19, Cortez 10, Hodge 8, Anthony 5, Dillinger 4, Hugnatan 2, Reyes 0, Atkins 0, Wilson 0, Ferriols 0, Sena 0

Quarterscores: 18-14, 45-35, 63-56, 89-76