NLEX ENDS ELIMS CAMPAIGN WITH A BANG
FINALLY, NLEX managed to play well in the endgame to fashion an 88-80 victory over Kia Sunday and snap out of its rut while gearing up for the PBA Philippine Cup playoffs at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Asi Taulava notched his sixth double-double of the tournament with 19 points and 14 rebounds and combined with Aldrech Ramos in giving the Road Warriors the needed lift when they needed it most.
The victory cut short NLEX’s three-game slide and gave it a 4-7 win-loss slate for 10th.
Still, it was a win which head coach Boyet Fernandez said would serve his team in good stead in the first round of the quarterfinals, where the Road Warriors must win twice over the third-ranked team.
“At least we stopped the bleeding,” said Fernandez. “I’m also happy we’re over the hump. Hopefully this gives us a little bit of confidence going to the qaurterfinals. It’s gonna be tough, but we hope to steal at least one game.”
The loss was Kia’s 10th straight following an opening day win against fellow expansion team Blackwater, relegating it to 11th.
Assistant coach Glenn Capacio, who called the shots in lieu of playing-coach Manny Pacquiao, said he sees some silver linings in the Sorento’s maiden campaign.
“Standing-wise, record wise, kung titingnan talagang pangit. But as a coach, happy ako sa ipinakita ng mga players,” said Capacio.
“We’re not that talented, this is a bunch of unknowns, but we competed,” added Capacio. ”We’ve been playing together, offensively and defensively. Kulang lang talaga sa materyales.
“It’s a process here in Kia. Sana may patience ang management. But there’s simply no shortcut in the PBA. Hopefully, sa second conference hindi na ganito record.”
Kia has lined up a record total 24 players throughout the conference, but Capacio also said he now needs just three to four quality players more to make his team a more competitive one.
Undeniably, the brightest spot among the Sorento is Reil Cervantes, the No. 9 pick overall by Barangay Ginebra in the 2011 draft who also had a brief stint with Barako Bull and the PBA D-League, who scored a career-high 34 points on top of seven rebounds.
Cervantes laced his performance by stringing up eight straight points that was followed by Hyram Bagatsing’s three-point play and tied the game for the seventh and last time at 77, still 3:04 left.
Then Ramos capped his own 11-point, eight rebound game with a followup and two charities while Taulava also canned two freebies that started NLEX’s decisive 11-3 windup. (NC)
The scores:
NLEX 88 – Taulava 19, Canaleta 16, Ramos 11, Villanueva E. 10, Cardona 7, Villanueva J. 7, Borboran 6, Baloria 4, Camson 3, Arboleda H. 3, Lingganay 2, Raymundo 0, Apinan 0, Arboleda W. 0.
KIA 80 – Cervantes 34, Buensuceso 18, Bagatsing 11, Custodio 5, Thiele 3, Burtscher 3, Poligrates 2, Revilla 2, Pascual 2, Ighalo 0, Dehesa 0, Webb 0, Alvarez 0, Bartolo 0.
Quarterscores: 21-25, 40-42, 62-57, 88-80
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