NLEX Road Warriors. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
NLEX broke loose in the middle quarters then, held off Blackwater in the fourth to win, 122-101, in the 2019 PBA Philippine Cup Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Sweet-shooting guard Philip Paniamogan scored 17 in the third quarter and equaled his career-high 25 points that went with nine assists and three steals to lead the Road Warriors, who climbed to seventh place in the standings with a 4-5 record.
“We’ve been hitting our stride lately. We had a good game against Alaska then, another good game today. We’ve been playing good defense. At least the last two games, we’ve been consistent with our defense,” said NLEX head coach Yeng Guiao.
NLEX big man Poy Erram posted a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds with two blocks to boot in his first game against his former team while Bong Galanza also had the hot hand with all of his 18 points coming from the outside.
The Road Warriors took a 29-point lead in the third before the Elite cut it to single digits, 95-86, after a basket by Diego Dario with still 8:15 remaining.
NLEX recovered with its outside shooting with Kenneth Ighalo and Galanza hitting timely shots from long distance to put away Blackwater.
Galanza hit back-to-back 3-pointers to extend his team’s lead back to 20, 110-90, with only 3:20 left.
The Road Warriors made a total of 21 triples and had 32 assists with only 12 turnovers.
Allein Maliksi had 20 points while Abu Tratter added 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Elite, who dropped to 2-8.