NLEX snapped a four-game skid the hard way by rallying from a 14-point deficit in the third quarter to frustrate Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 81-78, Saturday in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome.
JR Quinahan, Larry Fonacier, Cyrus Baguio and Alex Mallari carried NLEX back after falling behind 50-36 with 10:05 to play in the third before getting a lucky break from a Greg Slaughter miss from the foul line to give the Road Warriors their first victory in the calendar year.
Fonacier scored 17 points, Baguio scored all 13 points in the second half and Quinahan added 14 points, including a follow-up that gave NLEX a 79-77 lead with less than two minutes left in the Petron Saturday Special contest.
NLEX improved to 3-4, tying Ginebra and Phoenix in a three-way tie for seventh.
"We just put on an effort and sheer determination and some breaks in the endgame," said NLEX coach Yeng Guiao. "The important thing for us is we break our losing streak and we give ourselves a chance to be in the fight."
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The early morning shootaround may have also helped NLEX get the much-needed win, though it had to buck off inconsistency for three quarters to stun Ginebra in a game that was supposed to be held in Legazpi City but was moved to Metro Manila due to the ongoing situation concerning Mayon Volcano.
"Ginawa na namin yun. We usually don't practice in the morning. But today, we did some shootaround, we did some walkthroughs," said Guiao. "That's unusual for us because we usually want to get rested before the game but we did that today just to shake things up, just to have a different routine."
Japeth Aguilar finished with 21 points but missed a corner three that would have given Ginebra the lead. Slaughter, back after missing three games with a hamstring injury, was able to grab the offensive rebound and was fouled with 5.6 seconds left.
Slaughter made the first free throw, but failed to tie the game when he muffed his second attempt.
NLEX also got another break when Fonacier sank a technical free throw after Ginebra's Sol Mercado failed to report on the scorer's table. Rookie Kiefer Ravena split his two charities to seal the final count.
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Mallari scored 11 points as he and NLEX's veteran backcourt stepped up after Ravena had his worst shooting performance of the conference.
Ravena was held to seven points on 1-of-12 shooting. (JT)
NLEX 81 - Fonacier 17, Quinahan 14, Baguio 13, Mallari 11, Ravena 7, Taulava 5, Tiongson 4, Alas 4, Soyud 2, Miranda 2, Ighalo 2, Uyloan 0.
GINEBRA 78 - Aguilar J. 21, Tenorio 12, Aguilar R. 9, Thompson 8, Cruz 8, Ferrer 6, Mercado 5, Caguioa 0, Taha 0.
Quarter scores: 19-20, 35-43, 55-59, 81-78.
