NLEX Road Warriors stop Elite; Paul Lee, Magnolia drub Painters

Henry Walker of Blackwater Elite and Aaron Fuller of NLEX Road Warriors tangle during a rebound play during their 2018 PBA Governors’ Cup game on Wednesday, Sept. 26 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. PBA

MANILA – NLEX Road Warriors handed Blackwater Elite their first loss in the 2018 PBA Governors’ Cup with a dominant 124-106 victory Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Aaron Fuller led Road Warriors (4-2) with double-double 24 points and 20 rebounds. Larry Fonacier also made 24 markers while Kenneth Ighalo contributed 18.

Blackwater suffered their first loss after a 4-0 start. Shej Roi Sumang topped the scoring for the Elite with 24 points as Paul Zamar and Henry Walker chipped in 16 markers apiece.

In the second game, Paul Lee tormented his former team once again with a strong showing as Magnolia Hotshots cruised to a 92-76 domination over Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.

After a tightly contested first quarter, the Road Warriors started to pull away in the second period with shots from Fonacier, Fuller and Ighalo for a 55-45 halftime lead.

They raised the lead further in the third on a 16-2 scoring run behind Cyrus Baguio, Philip Paniamogan and Juan Miguel Tiongson, all the way to their largest lead 84-60 on a basket by Pedrito Galanza.

In the fourth the Elite made their last push to keep their unblemished slate, getting to as close as 9 points, but consecutive triples by Fonacier allowed the Road Warriors to pull away anew 107-92.

Matagal-tagal kaming naghanda noong nakita namin na this team is really for real, so we made sure we are prepared for this game,” said Road Warriors head coach Yeng Guiao.

In the following game Lee came up with huge conversions to stymie Rain or Shine’s run in the second half as Hotshots tallied their third win in four matches.

Lee, who was traded to the Hotshots from the Painters for James Yap last year, finished the match with 22 points.

Import Romeo Travis had the same output for Painters (0-2) along with 16 rebounds. J’Nathan Bullock had double-double 15 points and 10 rebounds./PN

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