PBA D-League: Hodge's 4th-quarter heroics lift NLEX past Café France

Cliff Hodge scored nine of his 14 points in the payoff period as the NLEX Road Warriors survived the Café France Bakers' upset bid, 66-60, on Tuesday in the PBA D-League Foundation Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City. Hodge, who also grabbed 14 rebounds, made those points in the final stretch to lead NLEX to its fourth straight win as the Road Warriors stayed on top of the standings. "They (Café France) gave us a scare but I credit the defense and the effort by the guys. Café France is playing well lately so we know that they'll be ready for us and it showed," said NLEX coach Boyet Fernandez. Chris Ellis added 12 points and eight rebounds followed by Kirk Long, Emman Monfort and Calvin Abueva, who had eight markers each for NLEX. The Road Warriors scored 11 unanswered points to turn a 51-46 deficit into a 57-51 lead with five minutes left in the game. Ellis' putback sparked that scoring run and Hodge's three-point play tied the game with 6:36 to go in the fourth. Abueva's short jumper pushed NLEX ahead 31 seconds later, 53-51. Café France moved within two points on Jens Knuttel's running jumper with a minute to play in the game, 62-60. After a Monfort missed three-pointer, Café France's Michael Parala attempted one from downtown but his shot failed to hit its mark with 29 ticks left in the game. Abueva increased the lead to four points on two free throws with 13.6 seconds remaining. — JVP, GMA News Scores: