Kings prevail but may lose tough import

MANILA, Philippines - NLEX drew a huge lift from comebacking PBA import Henry Walker while Barangay Ginebra overcame the loss of Paul Harris on a broken thumb as the Road Warriors and the Gin Kings topped separate foes in the second play date of the PBA Governors Cup over at the MOA Arena last night.

Walker, a six-year NBA veteran, erupted for six three-pointers and a total of 44 points in his PBA comeback, powering the Road Warriors to a 96-90 win over the Blackwater Elite and their import Eric Dawson.

Later in the night, the Gin Kings played tough even on the exit of their reinforcement due to an injury, standing their ground against Dominique Sutton and his teammates in a 93-81 triumph over the Globalport Batang Pier.

Meanwhile, San Miguel Beer starts its title defense versus Phoenix at 4 p.m. then Meralco goes for a second straight win against Alaska Milk at 6:15 p.m. as action swings back to the Big Dome tonight.

With Harris gone, Japeth Aguilar, Chris Ellis and Sol Mercado came through for the Gin Kings.

Aguilar top scored with 21 points while Ellis and Mercado combined for 22 markers. The three players all came off the bench.

Harris produced 14 markers, 10 rebounds, two assists and two blocks before suffering a broken thumb late in the third period. He could be out of the conference.

There’s no stopping the NLEX import in the curtain-raiser.

Averaging merely 21.4 points in 15 games with Alaska Milk in 2014, Walker was sharp in his first game with NLEX, going 5-of-9 from beyond right in the first half as the Road Warriors set the tone early in their coast-to-coast win over the Elite.

“It’s just being aggressive. The last time I was here, they talked about me not being aggressive. I’ll be super aggressive this time,” said Walker, a West Virginia native with NBA stints with the Boston Celtics, the New York Knicks and the Miami Heat.

He was fresh from a PBA tour of duty with Alaska Milk when he got a call from the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the NBA D-League and not for long from the Miami Heat where he averaged 7.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.0 steal in 24 games in the 2014-15 NBA season.

He led the Cedevita Zagreb team to the 2016 Croatian league championship before being signed up by the NLEX Road Warriors.

The former Kansas State stalwart, the 47th pick by the Washington Wizards in the 2008 NBA Draft, made an impact right away for NLEX, scoring nearly half of their output versus the Elite.

“I can score on post-up, on pick-and-roll and I can shoot from the outside. They didn’t want me to post up in the first half and I just took advantage of it,” said Walker of his 5-of-9 three-pointers in the first 24 minutes of the contest.

Blackwater just had no answer to Walker with Dawson finding a tough defensive matchup in Asi Taulava. Dawson, who had a previous PBA stint with the Meralco Bolts, went 11-of 18 from the field for 27 markers.

Mac Baracael, Kevin Alas and Jonas Villanueva played their roles helping the Road Warriors erect a huge lead, 31-16, right in the opening quarter.

Baracael, Alas and Villanueva combined for 35 points while Taulava, still a force to reckon with at 42, contributed nine rebounds, five points and one assist against one error.

The scores:

NLEX 96 – Walker 44, Alas 12, Baracael 12, J. Villanueva 11, Taulava 5, Soyud 4, Lanete 3, Forrester 3, E. Villanueva 2, Khobuntin 0, Monfort 0, Akl 0, Arboleda 0, Reyes 0.

Blackwater 90 – Dawson 27, Lastimosa 16, Cortez 14, Sumang 8, Sena 8, Pascual 5, Canada 5, Gamalinda 4, Dela Cruz 2, Erram 1, Cervantes 0.

Quarterscores: 31-16, 53-39, 78-68, 96-90

Second Game

Ginebra 93 – Aguilar 21, Harris 14, Mercado 12, Ellis 10, Tenorio 10, Devance 10, Caguioa 6, Helterbrand 3, Cruz 2, Mariano 2, Marcelo 2, Thompson 1.

Globalport 81 – Pringle 26, Sutton 18, Romeo 15, Yeo 8, Isip 5, Taha 4, Kramer 3, Dehesa 2, Banal 0, Pascual 0, Paredes 0.

Quarterscores: 25-30, 44-47, 61-62, 93-81