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MANILA, Philippines — NLEX cruised and took the luster out of Rain or Shine, 94-74, for its second straight win in the PBA Philippine Cup at AUF Sports Arena in Angeles, Pampanga.
An inconsistent club this conference, the Road Warriors improved to 3-5 and chalked up their first string of back-to-back wins of the season with the elimination round already in its crucial stretch.
NLEX held a respectable lead, 79-71, midway through the fourth but ramped it up in the ensuing minutes to leave the Elasto Painters behind.
JR Quiñahan, Anthony Semerad, and Kiefer Ravena each drilled key three-pointers to extend the Road Warriors’ lead to 90-74 with 2:06 to play in the game.
NLEX head coach Yeng Guiao seemed relieved that his team is slowly getting consistent this late into the tournament as they’re now in survival mode with three games left in their schedule.
“I hope so, it looks like it,” said Guiao on the team’s improving consistency. “Because one or two games you’re up then the next game you’re down, that’s basketball, but it’s a good sign for us.”
“We’re on survival mode now so that we won’t go home early. We have tough times ahead, San Miguel, Alaska, and TerraFirma you can never discount them. This is temporary but I hope it lasts.”
Kevin Alas finished with a game-high 18 points with six rebounds, despite a poor 4-of-15 shooting but went a perfect 7-of-7 from the stripe, to lead the Road Warriors while Jericho Cruz and Quiñahan had 17 and 13 points, respectively.
Rey Nambatac put up 15 points for the Elasto Painters who dropped to 4-2.