On-fire Road Warriors run over Beermen

MANILA, Philippines -- The NLEX Road Warriors continued to roll in the PBA Governors’ Cup after blasting the San Miguel Beermen, 110-96, Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. 

NLEX thus remained unscathed in the import-laden conference through four games. 

The Road Warriors took a 25-point lead in the contest as head coach Jimmy Alapag played the tormentor for the Beermen, for which he served an assistant coach for a while. 

DeQuan Jones waxed hot for the Road Warriors with 27 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks, an assist and a steal. Schonny Winston added 24 markers, four boards, four dimes and three steals, while Tony Semerad had 15 points. 

“I think anytime you play a team like San Miguel, with all their championship experience, it's always a great test for a young team. But I thought we were very resilient, especially in the second half,” Alapag said. 

“[Don] Trollano is one of the best shooters in the league, and he got going. But I thought our poise in the second half was great for the young team that we have. We were able to get stops and score when we needed to, to get the win,” he added. 

NLEX had a strong start, rushing to a double-digit lead as early as the first quarter as it set the tone the rest of the way. 

The lead grew to as much as 25 points, 85-60, in the third quarter after a Robbie Herndon layup. 

But San Miguel stormed back and pumped life back into the game, exploding with a 22-5 run capped by a layup by Rodney Brondial to slice the deficit to eight, 82-90, with 9:38 left. 

However, it was the nearest they got to, as they could not go over the hump. 

The Beermen trailed by eight, 84-92, with 7:31 to go, but huge shots by Jones, Herndon, Semerad and Robert Bolick just prevented the Beermen from getting nearer. 

Bolick flirted with a triple-double with 14 markers, 12 dimes and nine boards, while Herndon had 13 points. 

George King pulled off another stellar performance for San Miguel with 31 points, eight rebounds and an assist, but he committed nine turnovers. Don Trollano and June Mar Fajardo had 16 and 15 points, respectively, for the 3-1 Beermen.