Steady NLEX shackles Ginebra late to snap skid

The NLEX Road Warriors held Barangay Ginebra scoreless in the final 4:37 of the game to earn an 81-78 victory on Saturday at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.

Larry Fonacier led NLEX with 17 points off a high 58 percent clip from the field, but it was the Road Warriors’ bench that proved to be the difference at it outscored Ginebra’s reserves, 48-22. JR Quinahan tallied 14 points, while Cyrus Baguio and Alex Mallari added 13 and 11 points, respectively.

With the win, the Road Warriors ended a four-game losing streak to improve to 3-4 along with Phoenix and Ginebra.

Ginebra led by as many as seven points at the 8:41 mark, 69-62, before Cyrus Baguio, Larry Fonacier, and Kiefer Ravena led the late charge to give the Road Warriors a two-point lead with 5:07 to go, 75-73.

The final Ginebra field goal came at the 4:37 mark thanks to Greg Slaughter, but the Kings were just limited to just a split from the big man from then on. JR Quinahan, Ravena, and Fonacier then conspired for the finishing touches, enough to hand NLEX the victory.

Japeth Aguilar paced Ginebra with 21 points, while LA Tenorio was limited to 12 markers off a 4 of 13 clip from the field. Scottie Thompson packed his stats sheet with eight points, nine rebounds, and seven assists, but with five miscues. — DVM, GMA News