Simmons, NLEX stay perfect

MANILA, Philippines — Jonathon Simmons had a promise to keep for NLEX. And with that as motivation, the fancied import willed the Road Warriors past TNT and into a share of the PBA Governors’ Cup lead.

Firing eight of his 45 points in their game-changing fourth-quarter bombardment, Simmons spearheaded the Road Warriors to a gritty 110-108 come-from-behind victory over TNT last night at the PhilSports Arena.

As the Road Warriors chalked up win No. 3 and joined Converge at the summit, Simmons also stayed on track for a perfect 4-of-4 batting clip before he leaves for China next week. The former NBA player will wrap up his short stint with NLEX on Saturday against Phoenix.

“A win, nothing less than a win (next game),” said Simmons of his sendoff outing.

The Tropang Giga forced NLEX to play catchup from the opening tip on, leading by as many as 15 (85-70) and even holding a 96-82 margin going to the last 9:19.

But Simmons conspired with Kris Rosales, Sean Anthony, Tony Semerad and Kevin Alas in a 22-8 bomb to wrest control, 104-102. Overall, NLEX outscored TNT in the final canto, 32-17, to complete the steal.

“We were never rattled as a group. Everytime they made runs we were never too up or too low. We stayed composed throughout the whole game and we started finishing our possessions in the second half,” said Simmons.

“I thought it was a lost game but credit to this guy (Simmons), he brought us back,” said coach Frankie Lim.

Earlier, muscle-flexing San Miguel Beer pummeled Blackwater, 105-86 to stay spotless after two games under new coach Jorge Gallent.

The Beermen fully asserted themselves in a 30-11 second-quarter rampage to break the game wide open, 63-35, and make way for the smashing follow-up to their 114-93 opening win over Phoenix last Sunday.

Sparking that pullaway was Jericho Cruz, who dropped 10 of his game-high 22 in the second period, where SMB enjoyed a whopping 63-33 tear at one point.

Import Cameron Clark (20 markers and nine rebounds), June Mar Fajardo (17-16), CJ Perez (14), Marcio Lassiter (13) and Simon Enciso (nine markers, seven assists) were also solid in completing this demolition job.

Gallent, who took over from Leo Austria at the start of the conference, lauded the defense of his charges, who held the Bossing (1-2) to a much lower aggregate than their average of 105 markers.

“The players are playing well defensively. We have embraced the motto of bringing our defensive side forward and letting it trigger our offense. If it stays like that, then we’re fine,” said Gallent.

There’s still much left to be desired, though, as the Beermen slowed down and were actually outplayed in the third quarter, 33-20, allowing the Bossing to get to within a more manageable 15.

“Generally, the players’ energy is really high and I’m very happy with it. But there are times when it just goes down. But at least, we’re confident enough we could bring the lead back up again,” said Gallent.

Shawn Glover posted 16-11 while Joshua Torralba chipped in 11 for Blackwater.