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BIG THORN ON SMB’S SIDE
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AL Thornton’s winning attitude must surely be rubbing off on his NLEX teammates.
The former NBA first round pick in the scattered half of his game-high 30 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Road Warriors to a come-from-behind 100-93 victory over San Miguel Beer Tuesday in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome.
Mark Borboran, Jonas Viillanueva and KG Canaleta drew inspiration from their seemingly indefatigable import and also came up with clutch performances as NLEX grittily came charging back from 43-64 down to notch only its second win in six games.
The Road Warriors’ total victories could have been more, but they fell short in a 96-98 loss to Talk ‘N Text last Friday, when they battled back from 29 points down only to lose to a Jayson Castro shot at the buzzer.
Head coach Boyet Fernandez is not one to pine for that defeat after his team finally got out of the bottom two and moved to 10th-running spot following its second win in three games.
“The players won this game for us. I’m glad we were able to bounce back,” said Fernandez.
In only his second game with the Beermen, Arizona Reid notched 27 points and also had six rebounds and as many assists. But he went scoreless in the fourth period.
Arwind Santos scattered a personal conference-high 20 points, Doug Kramer came off the bench for 15 points and Chris Lutz scored 10, yet the Beermen still dropped to their fifth loss in six games and into a tie with cellar-dweller Blackwater.
The defeat could also be costly as June Mar Fajardo suffered what could a right hamstring injury.
He was on the verge of a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds but went out of the game for good with still 2:31 to go.
The presence of the 6-foot-10 behemoth could have at least made Thornton re-think about going strong moves to the basket after failing to hit the mark on any of his five three-point tries.
Coming in at the final 9:24 mark, Thornton also had five of his 12 rebounds and made the Beermen pay for fouling him by going 9-of-10 from the stripe in the decisive period.
Borboran took care of the outside snipings with two triples lacing his eight fourth quarter points and so did Canaleta and Villanueva with a trey each, the latter also sinking a charity that backstopped Thornton’s eight points during a 12-5 windup from the game’s second and last deadlock at 88.
Poor shooting in the stretch that mattered most did San Miguel Beer in as it went 6-for-24 from the field, including 3-for-13 from beyond the arc.
Santos made one that brought the Beermen within 91-95, still 30.5 seconds left, but Villanueva’s freebie and Thornton’s fiour straight charities against a Lutz basket sealed the outcome.
“Good thing SMB didn’t make their three-point attempts in the closing minutes,” said Fernandez. “In the end we made stops and that won us the ballgame.”
Fernandez added that the boost in morale the victory gives his team can now be used in their quest to continue moving up in the ladder and gain inclusion among the eight teams advancing to the playoffs.
“I always tell the players to believe in themselves and this should reinforce their confidence,” said Fernandez.
Asi Taulava and Macmac Cardona also played key roles in NLEX’s fightback with the 41-year-old center finishing with 20 points and seven rebounds and the latter scoring all his nine points in the third quarter to help keep the Road Warriors within striking distance. (NC)
The scores:
NLEX 100– Thornton 30, Taulava 20, J. Villanueva 15, Cardona 9, Borboran 8, Canaleta 6, Lingganay 6, E. Villanueva 2, Ramos 2, Apinan 2, Raymundo 0, H. Arboleda 0.
San Miguel Beer 93 — Reid 27, Santos 20, Kramer 15, Lutz 10, Fajardo 10, Cabagnot 6, Ross 2, Lassiter 2, Tubid 1.
Quarterscores: 14-26; 33-46; 58-75; 100-93
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