MANILA, Philippines—Chris Ellis scored half of his team-high 20 points in the pivotal third quarter as NLEX sweated out an 89-75 triumph over Freego Jeans to seize its back-to-back PBA D-League crown Tuesday at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
Ellis, the athletic six-foot-four swingman, provided the scoring punch in the third period, where the Road Warriors’ offense kicked into high gear.
“Freego is a very good team. They played a good first half and I’m just happy we adjusted right away,” said NLEX head coach Boyet Fernandez.
“I put Cliff (Hodge) on Camson and Chris Ellis on Apinan. We stopped Camson and the adjustment was good. Calvin (Abueva) also came in and brought the energy,” added Fernandez. “Everyone played their roles.”
Cliff Hodge flirted with a triple-double of 15 points, 17 rebounds and six blocks while Calvin Abueva wasn’t far behind with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Freego started strong and even led by nine, 43-34, on a Lester Alvarez four-point play at the 1:57 mark of the second quarter.
The Jeans Makers though failed to sustain their play as the Road Warriors battled back in the second half with a 12-0 blitz capped by an Ellis three-pointer just before the shot clock buzzer expired that had them up 53-45.
“We made the adjustments, but we just lack the firepower,” said Freego coach Leo Austria.
Ellis wasn’t done. Showcasing his sheer athleticism, Ellis exploded to the rim with a thunderous one-handed slam that had the sizeable crowd in a frenzy.
NLEX out-rebounded Freego, 55-35, while also shooting 53% from the two-point area.
Versatile big man Eric Camson finished with a game-high 24 points, 15 of which came in the first half.