July 30, 2017

NLEX adds Phoenix to its growing list of victims

AS COACH Yeng Guiao himself admitted, the real test for his NLEX crew is coming.

For the moment, Guiao and his Road Warriors are determined to milk their continuing streak as long as they can.

Bannered the most by Carlo Lastimosa and Alex Mallari in the fourth period league-leading NLEX pulled off a 95-91 victory over Phoenix Sunday to stay unbeaten in the PBA Governors Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Aaron Fuller notched 18 points on top of 24 rebounds, but Lastimosa and Mallari shone the most in the fourth quarter and made possible the Road Warriors’ big fight back from a 10-point deficit earlier in the period.

Lastimosa scattered 11 of his 14 points in the canto and Mallari nine of his 14, capped by a booming triple that gave NLEX a 93-87 lead and fully put the game beyond Phoenix’s reach with only 9.5 seconds to go.

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In the end, NLEX emerged with its fourth victory in as many games that solidified its first-ever hold of the leadership.

The way his charges kept their poise in another grind-out game that came on the heels of their 122-114 double overtime win over Rain or Shine pleased Guiao more.

“It’s really a nice game for us. We’re starting to look like a team,” said Guiao. “In the endgame we’ve been able to hold our own and pull through in crisis situations.”

The real gauge of where his team is compared to the league’s elite, Guiao pointed out, comes in three of their next four games wherein his Road Warriors would be facing the likes of defending champion Barangay Ginebra, Meralco and San Miguel Beer.

“Our next game is Ginebra. I guess that would really be a good measure of what kind of a team we truly are,” said Guiao. “We’ve been surviving on the run and I just hope we’re able to sustain it.”

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For sure, Guiao is bent on squeezing the most of his team’s current run, which now stretches to six games since the Commissioner’s Cup.

“Titingnan natin kung talagang totoo ito o kung nagpapanggap lang kami talaga,” said Guiao. “Pero maganda naman senyales. Let’s just see how far it takes us.”

The loss is the second straight for Phoenix, dropping it to an even 2-2 slate.

Eugene Phelps notched 31 points, 18 boards and six dimes while Matthew Wright atoned for a four-point performance in a 91-100 loss to GlobalPort last Wednesday with 17 points anchored on 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc.

But the Entire Fuel Masters squad could not sustain the run that carried them to as much as a 78-68 spread early in the fourth period and did not have the same finishing kick the Road Warriors displayed.

Lastimosa was the first to lead NLEX back with seven points and got joined by Mallari and JR Quinahan in forging the game’s last deadlock at 82.

Phoenix’s last gasp came through Phelps and Doug Kramer, whose buckets brought the Fuel Masters within 87-90. But, following a Lastimosa miss, Kramer flubbed his own drive and, following an NLEX timeout, Larry Fonacier found Mallari crosscourt for the final dagger 3.