NLEX, Meralco whip big guns

Chris Banchero of Alaska (dark) vs Rudy Lingganay of NLEX (light). PBA IMAGE

KWAME Alexander fired 28 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and earned a new lease on his PBA life after leading NLEX to a 113-102 decision of Alaska that snapped the losing streak of the Road Warriors in the Governors’ Cup at Mall of Asia Arena last night.

With his replacement already in town, Alexander gave coach Boyet Fernandez and management a lot of reason to stick with him as the Road Warriors survived the loss of a 12-point halftime lead before battling back from 13 down in the third quarter to prevail.

The Road Warriors improved to 2-4 and are now knocking at the magic circle of eight teams that will advance to the playoffs.

The loss denied Alaska an outright quarterfinal berth.

Meralco won back-to-back games for the first time after ripping sister squad Talk ‘N Text, 119-85, later in the night.

The Bolts also climbed above .500 for the first time after rising to 4-3, chalking up the biggest winning margin in franchise history.

Alexander scored his last nine points in the fourth quarter like Mac Cardona and the Road Warriors’ defense held in the stretch as the Aces fired just 10 points inside the final eight minutes and lost a 92-91 lead.

“I am just happy that we got this one,” said Fernandez, who admitted that Joshua Dollard had planed in to replace Alexander.

The scores:

First Game

NLEX 113—Alexander 28, Madanly 28, Taulava 20, Cardona 15, Canaleta 6, Villanueva E. 5, Wilson 4, Villanueva J. 4, Arboleda W. 3, Borboran 0, Ramos 0.

ALASKA 102—Travis 31, Baguio 23, Banchero 14, Casio 12, Jazul 8, Abueva 6, Manuel 2, Thoss 2, Menk 2, Dela Cruz 2, Dela Rosa 0, Exciminiano 0, Hontiveros 0.

Quarters: 31-29, 60-54, 83-85, 113-102

Second Game

MERALCO 119—Emmett 36, Anthony 24, Dillinger 14, David 12, Cortez 11, Nabong 8, Hodge 7, Ando 5, Ildefonso 2, Atkins 0, Guevarra 0.

TALK ‘N TEXT 85—Pettigrew 21, Castro 16, De Ocampo 14, Carey 10, Rosser 8, Fonacier 6, Daghles 6, Williams 4, Washington 0, Labagala 0.

Quarters: 23-15, 61-49, 83-69, 119-85