Road Warriors humble Elite, close in on title

Game on Monday (MOA Arena)

3:30 p.m. – NLEX vs Blackwater Sports

MANILA, Philippines - NLEX struck back in the second period and kept its charge after the break as it rolled to a 90-77 victory over Blackwater Sports to move within a win from nailing the PBA D-League Foundation Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum yesterday.

Ronald Pascual came off the bench to fire 17 points, keying a second quarter fightback by the Road Warriors, who then poured it all out in the third period and outscored the Elite, 24-16, to seize the opener of their best-of-three title series.

“When my first attempt went in, I had a strong feeling I would score well. So I just took the shot in every opportunity and I’m happy I was able to help the team,” said Pascual, who is set to join the PBA Rookie Draft in October.

The Road Warriors trailed in the early going, 21-23, but settled down and grabbed a 45-40 lead at the turn before taking control by 13 points in the second half as the 6-foot-3 Pascual hit two triples.

“I told my players we will not win (against Blackwater Sports) if they don’t follow our game plan. We instituted a new game plan for this game and I thought we executed it perfectly,” said NLEX coach Boyet Fernandez.

The most dominant team in the league can put away the defending champion Elite and claim their sixth championship with another victory in Game 2 of the best-of- three series on Monday at the MOA Arena.

Art dela Cruz tallied 18 points for the Road Warriors, who had five players scoring in double-figures. NLEX also got a big lift from its reserves, who outscored Blackwater Sports’s bench, 44-39.

The Elite, set to join the PBA as an expansion team in October, got off to a fast start but reeled back in the face of the Road Warriors’ strong second quarter charge.

Reil Cervantes led all scorers with 20 points but shot just 3 of 8 in the second half. The team’s other scorers – Kevin Ferrer, Gio Ciriacruz and Gilbert Bulawan – also failed to step up.

“We know they (Blackwater) loves to run. They generate their offense from their defense. So the instruction to the players is to block the lanes in case we miss a shot. We can’t afford (Blackwater) to get those defensive rebounds because they are good at scoring in transition,” said Fernandez said.

The Elite pulled within 42-45 on a jumper by Ferrer at the start of the third quarter but the Road Warriors went on a 24-14 run the rest of the period. Deal Cruz’s alley oop shot off a lob pass by Baser Amer gave NLEX a 67-50 lead late in the third.