NLEX forward KG Canaleta loses possession after running into the defense of KIA’s PJ Ramos on his way to the basket. AUGUST DELA CRUZ
MANILA, Philippines—Al Thornton came up with his usual second-half explosion and the NLEX defense silenced the locals of KIA Motors in the final two quarters to secure a 102-86 victory in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup yesterday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Thornton tossed in 25 of his 33 points in the last two frames and the Road Warriors wriggled out of a tight game with spurts that came one after the other early in the fourth as NLEX tied the tournament’s longest winning streak of five and rose to 6-4 overall.
NLEX actually entered the fourth period trailing, 69-72, before dropping nine unanswered points that got the Road Warriors on their way to dumping the Carnival to a 4-6 record.
When the Carnival came to within 78-80, Rudy Lingganay drilled a triple that touched off a 9-1 burst and sent NLEX zooming to an 89-79 lead going into the final 3:35.
Coach Boyet Fernandez’ game plan of letting hulking KIA import PJ Ramos score while holding the locals down worked as no local Carnival finished with more than eight points.
Ramos scored 41 and had 23 rebounds, but was held down to just two in the fourth period because of the tough defense put up by Asi Taulava and a consistent double team that came every time Ramos had a touch inside the paint.
“We had a very bad first half, the effort wasn’t there,” Fernandez said. “We did good on our game plan against Ramos in the second half.”
Fernandez and his crew moved half-a-game behind joint second placers Talk ‘N Text, Rain or Shine and Meralco, and a full game out of the lead being held by idle defending champion Purefoods.
The Tropang Texters gains a share of the lead with a 113-93 victory over San Miguel Beer.
The scores:
First Game
NLEX 102—Thornton 33, J. Villanueva 20, Cardona 16, Lingganay 12, Taulava 10, R. Villanueva 4, Borboran 4, Canaleta 3, Raymundo 0, Camson 0, Ramos 0, H. Arboleda 0.
KIA 86—Ramos 41, Cervantes 8, Buensuceso 7, Cawaling 6, Revilla 6, Avenido 6, Dehesa 5, Poligrates 3, Thiele 2, Yee 2, Alvarez 0, Pascual 0.
Quarters: 16-22, 36-45, 69-72, 102-86