Thornton, Warriors storm past Beermen

MANILA, Philippines - In a reversal of the game they bungled and lost to Talk N Text Friday, the NLEX Road Warriors made a turnaround, firing on all cylinders starting in the second half to overcome a huge deficit to jolt the San Miguel Beermen, 100-93, and improve to ninth place in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup last night at the Cuneta Astrodome.

Refusing to quit after falling behind by 21 points midway through the third quarter, the Road Warriors, through the heroics of Al Thornton, Jonas Villanueva and Mark Borboran, turned the game around towards the end and went on to claim the stirring victory that tied them with the idle Kia Carnival at 2-4.

It could have been a third straight win for the Road Warriors if not for Talk Text guard Jayson Castro’s game-winner at the buzzer, quashing NLEX’s fightback from a 29-point deficit in their game four days ago. The Texters escaped with a 98-96 nail-biter.

“It’s almost the same, and thankfully we pulled through this time,” said Thornton, making a big difference with his crucial 13-point flurry in the fourth quarter.

“In the first half, we allowed San Miguel to do their thing. Everything changed when we shifted to zone in the second half,” said NLEX coach Boyet Fernandez.

With their defensive shift, the Road Warriors stopped Junemar Fajardo’s post-up plays and AZ Reid’s penetrations, a big factor in handing the Philippine Cup champs their fifth loss against a lone win in the mid-season tourney.

San Miguel looked headed for a follow-up to its emphatic 102-86 win over Meralco Saturday in Cagayan de Oro when the Beermen roared to a 21-point lead at 64-43 on a three-point play by Reid with 5:15 left in the third period.

But NLEX turned out to be just saving its best for last.

Making the stops and collaring the rebounds, the Road Warriors pulled even after a long, long chase at 88 entering the last three minutes of play.

And as they kept their efficient, choking defense, Thornton and Villanueva also continued to deliver the goods on the offensive end as NLEX raced ahead at 95-88 with just 1:02 to go.

After five SMB misses from beyond the arc, Arwind Santos snapped their scoreless spell with his three-point conversion, making it 91-95 but with only 30 seconds left to play.

Sol Alabi scored on a follow-up off his own miss with 2.5 ticks left and Barako Bull outlasted Alaska Milk, 93-91, in a gripping overtime battle to jump to joint third with Rain or Shine at 4-2 in the nightcap.

It was the first win by the Energy in their last five games that went into extra period.

Alabi finished with 23 points and 19 rebounds while Dave Marcelo contributed a career-high 18 markers as the Energy dealt the Aces a fourth loss against two wins.

“We forced them to shoot treys rather than go on post-ups by Junemar and the attacks by Reid. Thankfully, we’re able to take that away from them,” said Fernandez.

Thrown out of their comfort zones, Reid was held scoreless in the fourth quarter after scattering 27 points in the first 36 minutes of play while Fajardo was limited to 10 points and nine rebounds after erupting for a 20-20 game the last time out.

Thornton came through with 30 points, 12 rebounds, one assist and one block against four errors in 41 minutes of action, and in the post-game interview promised the NLEX fans: “Hang in there, we’re going to get better.”

NOTES: KG Canaleta withdrew his participation in the coming PBA All-Star slam-dunk competition due to a slight injury. The five-time slam-dunk winner, however, confirmed his entry in the three-point shootout.

The scores:

First Game

NLEX 100 – Thornton 30, Taulava 20, J. Villanueva 15, Cardona 9, Borboran 8, Canaleta 6, Lingganay 6, E. Villanueva 2, Ramos 2, Apinan 2, Raymundo 0, H. Arboleda 0.

San Miguel Beer 93 – Reid 27, Santos 20, Kramer 15, Lutz 10, Fajardo 10, Cabagnot 6, Ross 2, Lassiter 2, Tubid 1.

Quarterscores: 14-26; 33-46; 58-75; 100-93

Second Game

BARAKO 93 – Alabi 23, Marcelo 18, Mercado 15, Lastimosa 12, Intal 12, Pascual 6, Garcia 4, Lanete 3, Chua 0, Hubalde 0.

ALASKA 91 – James 39, Manuel 13, Exciminiano 8, Jazul 8, Baguio 6, Menk 6, Hontiveros 3, Dela Rosa 2, Espinas 2, Dela Cruz 2, Casio 2, Banchero 0, Abueva 0.

Quarterscores: 22-21, 45-43, 66-65, 85-85, 93-91