Road Warriors stop streaking Aces

MANILA, Philippines – The NLEX Road Warriors derailed the streaking Alaska Aces in a blowout victory, 106-89, in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Ynares Center-Antipolo on Wednesday.

Fueled by a strong start led by Kevin Alas, the Road Warriors snapped the Aces three-game winning streak.

It was all NLEX for almost the whole 48 minutes, with the Aces stuck in a deficit all game save for when they scored the first basket.

The 3-pointer was the friend of NLEX early, with the team’s first 18 points coming on triples.

Turnovers also doomed the Aces as it resulted into easy transition baskets for the Road Warriors.

At their most dominant, the Road Warriors were ahead by a huge 29 points.

While RK Ilagan sparked a comeback try in the final quarter where they cut the deficit to 13, 77-90, NLEX were able to fend them off with timely three-pointers from Jericho Cruz.

Alaska entered the game fresh off a win where they clawed back from a 20-point deficit against the Terrafirma Dyip.

But there was no successful fight back this time as the Road Warriors improved to 6-3 to fan their hopes of claiming a Top 4 spot in the postseason.

NLEX import KJ McDaniels paced the Road Warriors in scoring with 27 points. Alas chipped in 19 points and four assists, while Cruz contributed 21.

For the Aces, who fell to 5-3, it was Abu Tratter that top-sored with 17 points.