One for the road for KJ, Warriors

NLEX subdues Ginebra, claims ‘bonus’ Olmin

MANILA, Philippines — KJ McDaniels powered NLEX to a huge 115-103 victory over Barangay Ginebra last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum and ensured that the Road Warriors will enjoy a twice-to-beat advantage in the PBA Governors’ Cup quarterfinals before heading home.

McDaniels, who is cutting short his stint to attend to his pregnant wife in the US, produced 26 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks in his farewell game as he presided over NLEX’ second-half turnaround after trailing by 15 early on.

Kevin Alas, with 18 markers, 10 boards and eight assists, Kris Rosales, with 17 marked by 5-of-6 three-point shooting, and trade acquisition Justin Chua, with 15,  also delivered big-time as the Road Warriors finished the elims with an 8-3 card, good for a top four finish that comes with the win-once bonus in the Last-8.

“If there’s anything that can convince KJ to stay, we would do it but his family is really the first priority,” said NLEX coach Yeng Guiao, whose team will pin its hopes on McDaniels’ replacement, Cameron Clark, moving forward.

“We’ll be missing a lot, I don’t know how we’ll play without him (McDaniels). We’ve gotten so used to being with him on and off the court. He’s been settling down and now he needs to go. Sayang. Pero we have to move on after KJ,” he added.

NLEX snapped the two-game streak of the Gin Kings, who fell to joint seventh with their 5-5 mark.

After chipping away Ginebra’s initial 30-15 tear and getting to within five at the break, the Road Warriors turned the tables around with a 62-45 exchange in the last 24 minutes.

Earlier, businesslike TNT resumed its PBA campaign in winning fashion, scoring a 106-93 verdict over winless Blackwater to jump to sixth place.

After serving Gilas Pilipinas duties last week, the Tropang Giga shifted back to their quarterfinal drive and got the job done against the upset-conscious Bossing en route to their fifth win in nine outings.

Coach Chot Reyes’ charges sustained the momentum from their back-to-back conquests of heavyweights San Miguel Beer (96-81) and Barangay Ginebra (119-92) two weeks ago prior to their Gilas stint in the Feb. 24 to 28 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers.

The reigning Philippine Cup champs kept themselves in the fight for a top four finish and twice-to-beat advantage in the Last-8 while prolonging the misery of the Bossing.

With its 10th loss of the tournament, Blackwater found itself on the brink of a second consecutive conference shutout, its long-running  skid extended to 29 games overall since 2020.

“I told the team that these are the games I fear the most, where everyone expects us to win and the odds are stacked in our favor,” said Reyes, whose team played its first game since Feb. 18.

“All I asked is to make sure the other team doesn’t outwork us and I’m glad we started fast. We had a lot of lapses throughout the game. We weren’t able to play a full 48-minute game at the level we wanted. But Blackwater is a much better team than their record reflects.”

Import Aaron Fuller grabbed 22 rebounds to complement his 16-point performance for TNT behind topscorer Mikey Williams’s 23 spiked by five triples. RR Pogoy, back after missing the last four games due to a strained calf, and Ryan Reyes matched Fuller’s scoring output.

Reyes said TNT didn’t overburden Kelly Williams, Poy Erram, Troy Rosario and Kib Montalbo, who were playing their sixth game in 10 days for the Tropang Giga and Gilas combined.

“We were really banking on the others who were a lot fresher to carry the load. The guys who played in Gilas basically acted as stabilizers – the inside presence of Kelly and Poy and Troy was very important (in this game),” said Reyes.

Shawn Glover came one assist shy of a triple-double with his 26-point, 15-rebound, nine-assist outing for the Bossing, who will try to avert a 0-11 card in their final game against Magnolia next week.

Meanwhile, streaking NorthPort (4-5) targets its fifth consecutive win against Terrafirma (2-7) while Meralco (6-3) and San Miguel Beer (6-4) collide in the PBA’s Saturday double-header at the Big Dome.

The Batang Pier eye the quarterfinal-booster at 4 p.m. while the Dyip try to squeeze out of a three-game slump.

The Bolts and the Beermen dispute win No. 7 and a crack at the top four in the 6:30 p.m. encounter featuring Shabazz Muhammad.  Fancied import Muhammad had an aborted stint with Meralco last December before hooking up with SMB a couple of months later.