By ADRIAN STEWART CO
NLEX Road Warriors leaned on a huge second half uprising to defeat San Miguel Beermen, 102-94, in the 2023 PBA on Tour at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City on Wednesday night, June 28.
Down by as much as 19 points at the half, the Road Warriors leaned on a huge third quarter by Celedonio Trollano, Dominick Fajardo and Ilonggo Clint Doliguez as they cut the deficit to 73-77.
The Road Warriors continued their run in the fourth quarter as back-to-back triples by Kevin Alas tied the score at 83-all before they pulled to a 96-91 advantage with conversions from Doliguez and Elvin Jake Pascual.
The Beermen made their last push as they chopped the deficit to 94-96, but Pascual came alive for the Road Warriors with back-to-back inside hits to widen the lead to 100-94 before Alas sealed the come-from-behind win with a layup.
Fajardo led the way with 20 points, including two outside shots, to go with seven rebounds, four steals and two assists as the Road Warriors snapped their losing skid to move up to 2-4.
Trollano contributed 19 markers, Alas finished with 15 points, with nine coming in the fourth quarter, while Doliguez, Matt Nieto and Pascual finished with 13, 12 and 10, respectively, for NLEX.
“Nag-stick lang din ako sa game plan nila [Road Warriors] coach Frankie [Lim], nabibigyan lang ako ng bola at ayun nakaka-shoot naman,” Fajardo, who was named as the Player of the Game in the NLEX win, said.
Allyn Bulanadi tallied 26 points, including four three-point connections, while Ilonggo Jericho Cruz and Rodney Brondial had 22 and 20 markers, respectively, as the Beermen dropped to 2-5.
Meanwhile, the Meralco Bolts returned to their winning ways following a lopsided 108-90 victory over sister team TNT Tropang Giga. The Bolts improved to 4-2, while the Tropang Giga dropped to 0-5.
Allein Maliksi waxed hot with 28 points, including five three-point conversions, to lead the Bolts. Kier John Quinto added 19 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, while Franky Johnson and Raymond Almazan contributed 13 points each.
NLEX 102 — Fajardo 20, Trollano 19, Alas 15, Doliguez 13, Nieto 12, Pascual 10, Rosales 8, Adamos 4, Anthony 1, Giussani 0.
SAN MIGUEL 94 — Bulanadi 26, Cruz 22, Brondial 20, Baclao 9, Apacible 7, Faundo 7, Dela Cruz 3, Lee 0, De Vera 0.
Quarterscores: 25-20, 39-58, 73-77, 102-94./ASC, WDJ