Moultrie proves he can play ‘the right way’ in NLEX’s crucial win

BIÑAN — Arnett Moultrie owned up to his mistakes at the end of regulation which could have stopped NLEX-Phoenix game on Friday from going to the extra period.

With a chance to win the game in the last 5.1 seconds and the game tied at 104, the Road Warriors reinforcement immediately hoisted a floater which went wide right allowing the Fuel Masters to get the board at the buzzer.

“We got a good look, but I felt like I rushed my shot. JR (Quiñahan) was open under the basket, but I missed him,” Moultrie explained.

That miss led to five more minutes of action, which fortunately ended in a 120-115 victory for NLEX for its first victory in the 2018 PBA Commissioner’s Cup.

Still, Moultrie couldn’t get the missed opportunity out of his head as he hopes to learn from this experience.

“Coach got on us about letting this game go to overtime and I felt like we should’ve finished it in regulation,” he said.

“We should not lose up big leads. We led by 19 points coming into the third quarter and we kind of let them come back into the game, being complacent, being lazy, and that’s something we have to work on.”

Moultrie had his best showing this conference, racking up 37 points, 17 rebounds, eight assists, and four blocks as he finally showed his full potential in the PBA.

But that’s the least of his concerns as he wants to focus on developing more chemistry with his NLEX teammates.

“I’m not a selfish player,” he said. “I’m not here to shoot every basketball. I know how to play basketball the right way and I think I proved that tonight. Right now, it’s all about our chemistry and playing hard for the whole 48 minutes.”

With the Road Warriors back on track in their playoff chase, Moultrie is keeping his fingers crossed that this will be the start of things turning the page for his squad.

“We feel confident,” he said. “Like coach said, we take it one game at a time and Wednesday we got GlobalPort and we’re just trying to win before the break.”