By ADRIAN STEWART CO
NLEX Road Warriors rallied back from 15 points down to stun sister team TNT Tropang Giga, 110-108, in the 2022-2023 PBA Governors’ Cup at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City on Wednesday night, February 1.
Down 76-91 late in the third quarter, the Road Warriors slowly clawed their way back behind Jonathon Simmons, Anthony Semerad, Sean Anthony, and Aklanon Kris Rosales to cut the deficit to 97-98 before taking a 99-98 edge on a conversion by Anthony.
The Road Warriors went on with its run on a triple by Kevin Alas and inside hits by Simmons and Rosales for a 106-101 lead, but the Tropang Giga cut it to 104-106 before Alas came up with back-to-back layups to push NLEX’s lead to 110-106.
The Tropang Giga made its last push at 108-110 on a putback by Kelly Williams and had a chance to force an overtime following a missed attempt from the Road Warriors, but Roger Pogoy missed his two-point attempt.
Simmons led the way with 45 points, including three three-point hits, to go with 12 rebounds, three assists and three steals, while Anthony chipped in 15 markers for the Road Warriors.
Alas contributed 13 points, with 10 coming in the fourth quarter, while Semerad added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Road Warriors, which tied Converge FiberXers on top with a 3-0 record.
Jalen Hudson finished with 39 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, Pogoy added 21 markers, while Glenn Khobuntin and Jayson Castro had 10 points each as the Tropang Giga dropped to 2-1.
The Road Warriors will aim for their fourth straight win on Saturday, February 4, against Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters in the final game of Simmons before he goes to the Chinese Basketball Association, while the Tropang Giga faces Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots today.
NLEX 110 — Simmons 45, Anthony 15, Alas 13, Semerad 10, Trollano 9, Rosales 8, Nieto 7, Ganuelas-Rosser 3, Pascual 0, Gabo 0.
TNT 108 — Hudson 38, Pogoy 21, Khobuntin 10, Castro 10, Montalbo 6, K. Williams 6, Tungcab 5, Ganuelas-Rosser 4, Chua 3, Varilla 2, M. Williams 2, Marcelo 0.
Quarterscores: 28-31, 49-56, 78-91, 110-108./ASC, WDJ