PBA: NLEX remains spotless in Jimmy Alapag's first encounter vs. old team TNT

Jimmy Alapag faced the franchise where he built his PBA legacy on Tuesday, and it was the new NLEX head coach who emerged victorious as the Road Warriors escaped with an 88-83 win over TNT in the PBA Season 50 Governors' Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

The Road Warriors, though, had to dig deep late amid a huge Tropang 5G comeback rally before escaping with a five-point victory and completing a first-round sweep with a 6-0 card in Group A.

The defending champions, who were coming off back-to-back wins against Converge and San Miguel, fell to 3-3.

DeQuan Jones spearheaded the offense with 27 points alongside seven rebounds, two blocks, one steal, and one assist while LJ Gonzales and Robert Bolick back-stopped the import with 11 and 10 markers apiece as they avoided wasting a huge lead early on.

"It's always an honor when you get a chance to coach against one of the best, right? I think Coach Chot's resume speaks for itself, not just the success in the PBA but also with the Gilas program," Alapag, who played for TNT from 2003 to 2015, said of facing his former mentor Chot Reyes.

"It's no surprise that TNT is playing the way they are even with so many key guys down. But again, proud of our guys. It's not easy to win six in a row."

A huge third-quarter rally saw TNT erase most of a 17-point deficit, cutting the gap to just three, 68-65, with Rey Nambatac, Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, and Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson coming to the rescue of a depleted TNT roster late in the period.

Glenn Khobuntin then forced a 74-all deadlock by firing a three-pointer from the left corner, but Anthony Semerad answered from the other end with his own triple that sent NLEX back to an 81-76 advantage.

Jones made it an 85-78 cushion off a pair of free throws and a putback basket, but TNT made another rampage when Ganuelas-Rosser knocked down a three-pointer and Hollis-Jefferson converted a basket to cut the deficit to two, 85-83.

But NLEX held on after Kim Aurin turned the ball over late, which led to a split from Bolick.

The scores:

NLEX 88 - Jones 27, Gonzales 11, Bolick 10, Bahio 9, Valdez 9, Winston 9, Alas 5, Gamboa 4, Semerad 3, Racal 1, Nelle 0, Capulong 0.

TNT 83 - Hollis-Jefferson 22, Ganuelas-Rosser 13, Khobuntin 13, Nambatac 13, Aurin 9, Enciso 6, Ferrer 3, Erram 2, Varilla 2, Quitevis 0, Jalalon 0.

Quarters: 26-18, 56-41, 70-65, 88-83.

—JMB, GMA News