Gutsy victory

ANTIPOLO—JR Quiñahan returned from injury bay to shoot 16 points and three others tossed in 12 or more as NLEX tripped Meralco, 87-83 in a Petron Saturday Special game for a second straight win in the PBA Philippine Cup eliminations at Ynares Center here.

New acquisition Poy Erram had 12 and a critical block on a driving Ranidel de Ocampo late in the stretch as the Road Warriors improved to 2-3 while tying their victims for a share of fifth spot along with idle San Miguel Beer and TNT KaTropa.

Erram, who the Road Warriors chased in the off-season and gave up a lot to sign, also finished with eight points and seven assists to earn Player of the Game honors.

“This is a good character-building experience win,” coach Yeng Guiao said. “We are learning how to win games in the endgame. But we were also lucky at some point. That block [by Erram] was really key. It’s as good as a winning shot for us.”

“This is a positive sign, the last time we won a game with a comfortable lead,” Guiao went on. “We had some key guys [stepping up] in the end game for us.”

Barangay Ginebra snapped out of a two-game losing streak in style, mangling Columbian, 97-85, in the other game.

The Gin Kings imposed their will defensively in the middle two quarters, using their superior advantage in size to hold the Dyip to just 35 points in that span and win their third game in five matches.

Columbian lost for the second straight game and dropped to 2-3.

Greg Slaughter had a heyday underneath, scoring 22 points and grabbing 12 rebounds to lead the Gin Kings. Rookie CJ Perez paced the Dyip with 25 points.

NLEX raised an alarm of sorts when Kevin Alas, who finished with 12 points, left the game for fears of re-injuring his surgically repaired knee.

“As big as his heart was, we had to replace him,” Guiao said of Alas. “He will go straight to the hospital after this.”

Quiñahan, who twisted an ankle in NLEX’s second game, was 3-for-3 from three-point range and 5-for-10 from the field overall.

Meanwhile, action returns to Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay on Sunday with Governors’ Cup finalists Alaska and Magnolia finally debuting against separate foes.

The Aces take the floor first at 4:30 p.m. against Rain or Shine, before the Hotshots battle on-and-off TNT KaTropa in the 6:45 p.m. game.

Jeffrey Cariaso will call the shots for the Aces, as head coach Alex Compton just returned from the United States on Saturday after attending to an important family matter.