Star ekes out win on NLEX miscue

MANILA, Philippines - The NLEX Road Warriors came charging back from 19 points down only to commit crucial mental lapses at the finish, allowing the Star Hotshots to pull through in their exciting match in the return of PBA play on home soil over at the Philsports Arena Sunday night.

The Hotshots walked the tightrope at endgame but escaped with a 97-95 win to move up in the upper half of the chart in the Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup with an even 2-2 win-loss slate.

The Road Warriors rallied to within a point at 96-97 and got a chance to steal the game only to blow away their bid on two bad decisions in the last nine seconds of play.

NLEX slid to joint third place with Globalport and San Miguel Beer at 2-1.

Earlier, Globalport, behind the clutch efforts of Terrence Romeo and Jay Washington, outlasted Barako Bull, 105-91, in overtime.

Trailing by one at 96-97, the Road Warriors got a crack at salvaging the game when Asi Taulava grabbed the defensive rebound following two missed free throws by James Yap with nine seconds left to play.

Alas, the Road Warriors failed to call an immediate timeout as ordered by coach Boyet Fernandez.

Taulava instead issued an outlet pass to Kevin Alas who attacked a swarming Star defense and lost possession in the process.

As Justin Melton split from the stripe in the next sequence, NLEX got one final shot at forcing overtime but failed to launch a decent attempt.