PBA-DL: NLEX returns to the Finals after surviving Air21 JRU

The NLEX Road Warriors withstood a late barrage of triples from the Air21 JRU Heavy Bombers to advance anew to the finals of the Aspirants Cup, 87-85, Tuesday at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan, with the franchise looking to make it 4-for-4 in PBA D-League championships. [Related: NLEX mauls Air21 JRU, one away from fourth straight Finals trip] Still, Air21 JRU put up quite a fight, as following a 105-85 blowout at the hands of their more experienced opposition, the team rallied to a 108-94 victory to tie up the best-of-three series, and then took their opponents to the limit in this game. [Related: Air21 JRU force winner-take-all for Finals berth vs NLEX] "It was a character building win for this team," said NLEX head coach Boyet Fernandez. "It's a relief that we passed JRU. I've been worried about this team in the eliminations." At the top of his worries was John Villarias. the hot-shooting guard canned seven triples to total 25 points in the game. 22 of those points came in the second half. Air21 JRU converted on 11 three-point shots overall in the game. They were 1-for-7 in the first half and exploded for 10-of-16 in the second half. To counter the hot shooting of Villarias, Fernandez had Kirk Long shadow him. It resulted in a turnover and a Ronald Pascual lay-up on the other side to start the fourth quarter. Villarias and Pascual then exchanged three-point baskets for a 69-60 count. Villarias inched the Heavy Bombers closer with a lay-up but this time it was Kevin Alas who countered with a trey for NLEX. Alas then stole the ball and scored on a breakaway lay-up for a 74-62 count with 7:11 remaining in the game. With the NLEX defense concentrating on Villarias, Anthony Del Rio and Dexter Maiquez were able to score five straight points to bring their deficit down to a manageable seven. Jake Pascual scored on an easy fast break layup but as usual, Villarias countered with a three. After Sangalang made an easy lay-up, Nard Pinto joined in on the three-ball party that Villarias was hosting. Two free throws by Del Rio sliced the NLEX cushion further down to four at 79-75 with 3:54 remaining in the game, but Sangalang scored two straight baskets against an undersized Maiquez to raise their lead back up to eight, 83-75. But the JRU Heavy Bombers just didn't know how to quit. Del Rio and Villarias converted back-to-back triples to get within two points at 83-81. Long was then fouled but he only managed a split. The Road Warriors retained possession and Sangalang also managed just one out of two from the line. Del Rio then brought the house down with another three ball to cut the NLEX lead to a solitary point. The Heavy Bombers then fouled Pascual, who converted two free throws on the other end to give the NLEX Road Warriors a 87-84 lead with only 9.8 seconds remaining in the game. Villarias found himself open but he finally missed a three-point shot. Khazim Mirza was able to collar the rebound and was fouled on his put-back attempt. He converted on his first free throw and deliberately missed his second. The ball bounced out of bounds and the replay showed it was last touched by a Road Warrior. Down by a deuce with five seconds remaining in the game, Meneses drew up a play for Villarias but his three-point shot was blocked by Long as the buzzer expired. "Kirk Long bailed us out today with that clean block on Villarias at the end of the game," Fernandez said. "From the start, lumalamang kami pero bumabalik sila. They've been a good defensive team. We have the talent but when it comes to defense, I bow down to JRU. Na-timingan lang namin." Without Greg Slaughter in the NLEX line-up, Ian Sangalang made it a point to establish himself early in the game. The former San Sebastian Stag opened the game with two straight three-point plays to give the Road Warriors an early lead. Down 16-9 in late in the first quarter, Khazim Mirza strung together four straight points to cut the NLEX lead down to three at 16-13. However, Ronald Pascual connected with a three-point shot with less than a a minute remaining in the quarter to double their lead. Mirza however ended his high-scoring quarter with two free throws to make the count 19-15 in favor of NLEX at the end of the first quarter. Nico Salva opened the second quarter with one of his patented mid-range fadeaway jumpers. He added a three-point shot in their next possession for a 24-15 NLEX lead. JRU coach Vergel Meneses then unleashed a choking press defense that gave the Road Warriors fits, allowing the Heavy Bombers to score seven straight points off three NLEX turnovers to cut the lead down to one, 27-26, with 4:30 remaining in the first half. A free throw from Borgie Hermida and baskets from Eric Camson and Oping Sumalinog brought the NLEX lead back up to six at 32-26. After a 4-0 run by the Heavy Bombers, the Road Warriors re-established their inside game, replying with an 8-0 blast, all coming from the shaded area. They hiked their lead back to 10, but a basket from Dexter Maiquez ended the quarter on a good note for the Heavy Bombers, although they still faced a 40-32 deficit. Mirza led all scorers at the half with nine points, while John Pinto and Maiquez combined for 15. The Road Warriors on the other hand used a balanced offensive attack with no one scoring over six points. The Heavy Bombers went back to their pressing defense in the third quarter and it resulted in a lay-up for John Pinto on the break. Maiquez added and and-1 play to trim the lead back down to three with still 8:30 left in the third quarter. After two free throws from Jake Pascual, Maiquez converted on another three-point play. A lay-up by Byron Villarias then knotted the game at 42. A three-point play by Kevin Alas at the 4:44 mark gave the Road Warriors some breathing room as he raised their lead to four. He then made another and-one play, this time on the break for a 51-44 NLEX lead. Camson added two free throws for a nine-point lead seconds later. However, the pesky Heavy Bombers stuck around. A lay-up by Anthony Del Rio trimmed the lead down to five but back-to-back baskets by Camson and Alas brought it back up to nine at 57-48 with less than two minutes left in the third. Salva then connected with a long jumper off another JRU turnover but Villarias replied with a three-point basket. Alas went coast-to-coast for another lay-up but the sweet-shooting Villarias again replied with a triple. The exact same thing happened moments later. Alas wowed the crowd with another excursion to the basket and it was again one-upped by a Villarias triple. The third quarter ended with the NLEX Road Warriors holding a 64-57 lead. When the dust settled, Alas led the Road Warriors with 19 points. Sanggalang added 14 and the Pascuals combined for 24. Now Fernandez and his wards will face an eager Cagayan Valley team. "It's against an energetic team, a no-holds barred team. They're excited. Their coach is really good," said Fernandez, who will now battle with Cagayan Valley's Alvin Pua. "He played under me for one conference bago ma-disband yung Sta. Lucia," Fernandez added, of Pua. The first game of the PBA D-League finals will start on Thursday at the Blue Eagle Gym. The second game will be at the San Juan Arena on February 26 and the third game (if necessary) will be played on February 28 at the Ynares Arena. All games tip-off at 3 pm. - AMD, GMA News The scores: NLEX 87: Alas 19, Sangalang 14, Pascual J. 13, Pascual R. 11, Camson 9, Salva 7, Sumalinog 4, Lanete 4, Long 3, Hermida 3, Baser 0, Garcia 0 Air21 JRU 85: Villarias 25, Pinto 15, Maiquez 15, Del Rio 13, Mirza 10, Mabulac 6, Paniamogan 1, Lopez 0, Almario 0, Ighalo 0, Miranda 0, Apinan 0 Quarter scores: 19-15, 40-32, 64-57, 87-85