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Kiefer Ravena seals the victory for NLEX. PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines – NLEX scored its second win after beating TNT 109-98 in the PBA Philippine Cup on Thursday at the University of Angeles Foundation.
The Road Warriors stoked their playoff hopes and improved to 2-5 as they stopped Tropang Giga’s five-game undefeated start.
Kiefer Ravena put ice on the game for the Road Warriors in the face of an annoying TNT attack with a three step back from the right wing with 50 seconds left for a 104-96 lead.
“I think this has been the proudest thing I’ve been since we were in the bubble, we did a good job on defense and TNT has been playing really well the last three weeks since we entered the bubble,” the coach said in head of NLEX. Yeng Guiao.
“But they will surely have a bad night and it was lucky for us to have caught them on their bad night.
Despite their 10-point lead, 97-87, at the end of the quarter, the Road Warriors never seemed invincible against Tropang Giga with TNT constantly knocking on their doors.
A quick five-point swing from TNT closed the gap at five, 97-92, after Simon Enciso and Poy Erram exchanged cubes.
NLEX also coughed the ball twice from the inning, allowing Bobby Ray Parks Jr. and Jayson Castro to convert to easy layouts and go to five, 101-96, with 1:35 left before Ravenna’s basket.
Kevin Alas finished with 24 points with six rebounds and three steals to lead the Road Warriors, while Jericho Cruz and Ravena added 19 and 16 points, respectively.
Castro led TNT with 27 points, five rebounds and eight assists, while RR Pogoy added 16 points, six rebounds and five dimes.
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