MANILA, Philippines — Even with a 30-point bulge early in the fourth quarter, NLEX barely survived a scare, pouncing on a crucial Alaska Milk error in the end to pull out a 96-89 win that enhanced the Road Warriors’ playoff bid in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.
The Road Warriors nearly blew their 87-57 spread with 9:47 left to play, cashing in on Kevin Racal’s errant throw-in in the last 12.9 seconds to preserve the victory that firmed up their place in the upper half of the chart at 5-4.
“Parang di kami nanalo, kaya sabi ko walang magse-celebrate,” said NLEX coach Yeng Guiao.
“I thought we would have a comfortable win but I was wrong. We needed a 30-point lead to beat Alaska. And even with that lead, we were not safe,” Guiao added. “There’s a reason why they got six straight wins. They’re just probably due for a loss.”
Alaska coach Alex Compton rued his guys being complacent before putting in their best effort only after they had fallen behind by a huge margin.
LA Tenorio came through with 27 points and 11 assists while twin towers Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter combined for 45 markers and 20 boards as Barangay Ginebra warded off TNT KaTropa, 93-78, to stay in equal footing with NLEX at 5-4 later in the night.
“LA was awesome tonight, and we loved seeing Japeth and Greg playing well together. It’s the key to our success – not how well Japeth plays, not how well Greg plays,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.