Warriors fuel playoff drive over Bolts

MANILA, Philippines - NLEX made a sweep of its sister teams, beating Meralco, 93-91, and staying on course for a playoffs slot in the Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

Four nights after a breakthrough win over Talk n Text, the Road Warriors made it two in a row with a nail-biter over the Bolts to stay right behind the tournament front-runners with a 4-2 win-loss card.

“We’re happy we got these two teams. Hopefully, we can now erase that ‘little brother’ tag for us,” said NLEX coach Boyet Fernandez.

Alaska Milk outmaneuvered Star in the pulsating finish of a well-fought contest, squeezing out a 107-102 win to regain a share of the lead with San Miguel Beer at 5-1 later in the night.

Alaska swing man Cyrus Baguio sneaked in with key baskets while Star top gun James Yap had crucial boners that hastened their downfall.

Star dropped down to 2-5.

Curiously, former Meralco players Asi Taulava and Sean Anthony made the biggest damage as the Road Warriors dealt the Bolts a sixth loss against a lone win.

“You don’t need to motivate Asi. He’s always motivated and his attitude rubs off on his teammates. Sean is extra motivated. He’s excited to play Meralco,” said Fernandez.

Taulava churned out yet another huge double-double game with 22 points and 21 rebounds while Anthony barely missed a double-double with 19 markers and nine boards.

Anthony, dealt away by Meralco on the entry of Jimmy Alapag in the offseason, capped his sterling game with two free throws that pushed NLEX ahead, 92-91, with time down to 8.8 seconds.

With no more timeout left, the Bolts were no longer able to run a decent play.

First, Gary David turned the ball over on a lane violation, prompting Jared Dillinger to make a quick foul on Kevin Alas with 2.6 seconds left.

After Alas canned in the last-end of his free throws, Kelly Nabong threw a wild long inbound that bounced hard off their backboard and fell on the hands of Meralco rookie guard Baser Amer.

Amer’s desperation heave also went off to the sound of the buzzer.

Alas and Jonas Villanueva formed a solid NLEX backcourt duo that produced 33 points.

For Meralco, Chris Newsome fired a career-high 21, with David, Cliff Hodge, Bryan Faundo and Rabeh Al-Hussaini adding double-digit outputs.

Taulava, 42, dominated young Meralco counterparts Al-Hussaini, Faundo and Reynel Hugnatan.

Meanwhile, Talk n Text and Globalport try to catch up with NLEX again as they play Blackwater and Barangay Ginebra, respectively, today.