Road Warriors, Gin Kings take Game 1
From a 96-all count, Ravena issued a brilliant assist to Michael Miranda then the former Ateneo hotshot outfoxed Kevin Racal in a fight for possession from a jump ball before beating two defenders for a layup that gave the Road Warriors a four-point cushion with time down to 22.5 seconds. PBA Photo
MANILA, Philippines — NLEX rookie Kiefer Ravena played like a seasoned veteran in his first PBA playoff game, delivering amazing plays at endgame as the Road Warriors topped the Alaska Milk Aces, 105-99, in Game One of their PBA Philippine Cup best-of-three quarterfinals series at the MOA Arena in Pasay City last night.
From a 96-all count, Ravena issued a brilliant assist to Michael Miranda then the former Ateneo hotshot outfoxed Kevin Racal in a fight for possession from a jump ball before beating two defenders for a layup that gave the Road Warriors a four-point cushion with time down to 22.5 seconds.
Barangay Ginebra outfought Rain or Shine in a battle for a second time in four nights, carving out an 88-80 win in the opener of their own best-of-three quarters showdown later in the night.
The Gin Kings, the playoffs No. 4 seed, unleashed a crucial 12-0 run from a slim 70-69 lead and held on to repeat their 100-92 victory Friday.
“Game One is always crucial in a series, but definitely our job is not done,” said Sol Mercado.
With Alaska still waging a fight, Ravena knocked in two charities for a 103-99 count with 7.8 ticks left, then swiped the ball away from Simon Enciso to eventually send the Road Warriors to the threshold of a possible first-ever Final Four appearance.
Meanwhile, reigning three-time defending champion San Miguel Beer and Magnolia, the elims topnotchers, hope to make good use of their twice-to-beat incentives as they shoot for the first two Final Four berths against TNT KaTropa and GlobalPort, respectively, in Day 2 playoffs, also at the MOA Arena tonight.
The Beermen seek to deliver the knockout punch on the Texters in their 4:30 p.m. tiff then the Hotshots go for the jugular against the Batang Pier in their 7 p.m. faceoff.
NOTES: With four treys, Larry Fonacier became only the 11th PBA player to amass at least 800 triples – the fourth among active players after James Yap, Ronald Tubid and LA Tenorio.
The scores:
First Game
NLEX 105 – Ravena 25, Fonacier 18, Alas 17, Quiñahan 12, Miranda 10, Baguio 8, Al-Hussaini 4, Soyud 4, Taulava 4, Tiongson 3, Gotladera 0, Mallari 0
Alaska 99 – Banchero 20, Abueva 18, Enciso 16, Thoss 11, Casio 8, Magat 4, Racal 4, Teng 4, Baclao 1, Cruz 0, Exciminiano 0
Quarterscores: 24-22, 50-40, 74-72, 105-99
Second Game
Ginebra 88 – Tenorio 16, Devance 15, J. Aguilar 14, Thompson 14, Mercado 13, Ferrer 6, Mariano 6, Cruz 4, R. Aguilar 0, Caguioa 0
ROS 80 – Belga 17, Daquioag 16, Ahanmisi 10, Ponferrada 9, Nambatac 8, Trollano 6, Washington 5, Norwood 4, Tiu 3, Maiquez 2, Almazan 0, Borboran 0
Quarterscores: 21-23, 44-43, 68-64, 88-80
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