NLEX, TNT draw first blood in PBA Govs’ Cup quarters

Sports

THE NLEX Road Warriors and the TNT Tropang 5G posted contrasting wins to draw first blood in their respective best-of-five quarterfinal series in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup on Sunday night, Oct. 25, at the Ynares Center-Antipolo.

NLEX needed to survive an endgame scare before dispatching the Phoenix Fuel Masters 97-92, while the Tropa led from start to finish to dominate the Magnolia Hotshots, 92-70.

Deonte Burton led NLEX with 27 points and came with timely points and defensive spots in the critical stretch of the match. He scored four of his game-high output and also had two blocks inside the final two minutes that allowed the Road Warriors to pull through.

Robert Bolick backed Burton with 20 points.

Phoenix rallied from 15 points down but its bid to pull off what could have been a huge come-from-behind win was hindered by the fouling out of Ricci Rivero and the ejection of import Marcellus Earlington due to a flagrant foul.

Rivero paced Phoniex with 24 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. Kai Ballungay added 20 points and eight boards, while Earlington had 14 markers and 13 rebounds.

Meanwhile, the No. 5 seed TNT led by as many as 25 points in a dominant win over the No. 4 seed Magnolia.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, back from an Achilles injury, led TNT with 26 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Magnolia got just 18 points from import KJ Buffen.

THE SCORES:

FIRST GAME

NLEX (97) – Burton 27, Bolick 20, Winston 13, Semerad 11, Alas 6, Gonzales 6, Herndon 5, Valdez 5, Bahio 4, Racal 0, Nieto 0, Gamboa 0, Marcelo 0.

PHOENIX (92) – Rivero 24, Ballungay 20, Earlington 14, Mamuyac 11, Tio 9, Tuffin 7, Santos 5, Delos Santos 2, Escandor 0.QUARTERSCORES: 29-26; 56-48; 77-73; 97-92.

SECOND GAME

TNT (92) – Hollis-Jefferson 26, Oftana 13, Pogoy 12, Nambatac 12, Rosser 11, Galinato 6, Heading 6, Castro 2, Jalalon 2, Khobuntin 2, Erram 0, Aurin 0, Quitevis 0.

MAGNOLIA (70) – Buffen 18, Lucero 14, Barroca 11, Sangalang 8, Lastimosa 6, Koon 6, Alfaro 4, Dela Rosa 2, Gomez de Liano 1, Jopia 0, Andrada 0, Laput 0.QUARTERSCORES: 19-15, 42-33, 68-51, 92-70.(CCM)