MANILA – NLEX Road Warriors survived an erratic sequence in the endgame to beat TNT Tropang Giga, 102-100, in the 2021 PBA Governors’ Cup last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Holding on to a 101-97 lead after a basket by Calvin Oftana with a minute left, Road Warriors’ Celedonio Trollano turned the ball over that led to a triple by Tropang Giga’s Kelly Williams to cut the deficit to 100-101.
NLEX’s KJ McDaniels and Oftana also committed back-to-back turnovers in the next sequence but the Tropang Giga failed to capitalize with import McKenzie Moore also turning the ball over.
The Road Warriors managed to extend the lead to 102-100 on a split free throw by Trollano with 10 seconds left. The Tropang Giga still had a chance to snatch the win but the tight defense of NLEX prevented them from attempting a basket.
McDaniels led the way with 33 points and eight rebounds for the Road Arriors. Trollano and JR Quinahan chipped in 15 markers apiece, while Kevin Alas and Oftana had 11 and 10 points, respectively.
With the win, the Road Warriors moved up to 3-0 slate.
Williams tallied 16 points to banner the offense of Tropang Giga (0-1). Moore added 14 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, while Gabriel Banal and Mikey Williams had 14 and 12, respectively.
In the first game, 2021 PBA Philippine Cup runner up Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok had a rousing debut in the season-ending conference after a 114-87 manhandling of T errafirma Dyip (1-2).
Holding to a slim 18-15 lead after the first quarter, the Hotshots went to work in the second quarter behind reinforcement Michael Harris for a 46-35 halftime lead on a halfcourt buzzer beating basket by Calvin Abueva.
The Dyip attempted to come close in the third quarter as they trimmed the deficit to 46-54 but the Hotshots managed to pull away anew behind Ian Sangalang, Rome dela Rosa and Paul Lee for its largest lead of 34 points.
Harris led the Hotshots with double-double 30 points and 15 rebounds. Abueva chipped in with 17 markers and 11 boards, while Lee converted three outside shots to finish with 16 points.
BOX SCORE:
NLEX 102 – McDaniels 33, Quinahan 15, Trollano 15, Alas 11, Oftana 10, Semerad 8, Cruz 8, Ighalo 2, Rosales 0, Miranda 0, Paniamogan 0.
TNT 100 – K. Williams 16, Moore 15, Banal 14, M. Williams 12, Erram 11, Pogoy 11, Khobuntin 9, Castro 9, Reyes 3, Heruela 0, Marcelo 0.
Quarterscores: 29-21, 51-46, 76-70, 102-100./PN
