MANILA, Philippines — The NLEX Road Warriors ran through the revamped San Miguel Beermen in the second match of the PBA Governor's Cup doubleheader, 114-102, at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City on Wednesday.
A balanced team effort, highlighted by 29 assists, paced the Road Warriors against the Beermen in their first game without veterans Arwind Santos and Alex Cabagnot who got traded to different teams.
It was actually the Beermen who were dominant early in the first half.
In the second quarter, they up by as big as 11, behind a hot start by reinforcement Brandon Brown.
But a 17-4 run by the "new look" Road Warriors, who had on new jerseys, to end the first half flipped the script as NLEX was ahead at the break, 52-49.
Things started to unravel for the Beermen in the second half when the NLEX offense began to catch steam to led by 13, 77-64, after a Philip Paniamogan three late in the third quarter.
Stingy defense by the Road Warriors also limited Brown and also tired him out.
While the Beermen attempted a fight back and cut the lead to as small as four, 88-84, back-to-back triples by Jr Quinahan knocked the wind right out of SMB anew with 8:26 left.
With momentum fully on their side, the Road Warriors ballooned their lead to as big as 19, 107-88, in the fourth period.
KJ McDaniels logged a double-double of 27 points and 11 rebounds to lead the push for the Road Warriors.
Kevin Alas, meanwhile, was the floor general for NLEX with 12 points, eight assists and four rebounds.
Three players — Quinahan, Paniamogan, and Don Trollano — led the charge from the bench with 10, 11 and 12 points, respectively.
Brown top-scored for San Miguel with 36 points. He also grabbed 13 boards, dished three assists and logged two steals.
June Mar Fajardo and Vic Manuel played supporting role with 20 and 17 points, respectively.