PBA: Ikatlong sunod na panalo nasungkit ng NLEX vs. Eastern

Nasungkit ng NLEX Road Warriors ang kanilang ikatlong sunod na panalo kontra Hong Kong Eastern kagabi, Enero 29, 94-76 sa Smart Araneta Coliseum sa pagpapatuloy ng PBA Season 49 Commisioners’ Cup.

Dahil sa panalo ng NLEX ay mayroon na itong 6-6 win-loss sa team standings. 

Samantala, ikinatuwa naman ni NLEX head coach Jong Uichico ang kanilang nakuhang panalo sa kabila ng kanilang slow start ay mabuti na lang aniya at nakabawi sila sa kalaban. 

"In the first half I didn't like the way they were playing, there was no energy," said Uichico. "But they were able to pick it up in the second half and that's a good sign that they were able to recover from a slow start," ani Uichico.

“We’ll take this win, whose team was, at one point in the conference, on the brink of elimination. Basta may tsansa naman kami. Earlier, two weeks ago, we were on the brink na. Pero ngayon, may tsansa na kami, we will take this,” dagdag ni Uichico. 

Nanguna sa panalo ng NLEX si Mike Watkins na aniya ay ibinigay ang lahat ng makakaya para maipanalo ang laban kung saan nakapagtala ito ng 41 points, 14 rebounds , dalawang assists at dalawang blocks. 

"Today was a must-win to get us to advance to the playoffs and I wasn't ready to go home yet. So I had to come and give it the best energy I had," ani Watkins. 

Bukod kay Watkins nag-ambag din ng 21 points, walong assists at limang rebounds si Robert Bolick na nagtamo ng left ankle injury habang naglalaro, samantalang sina Jonnel Policarpio and Javee Mocon ay mayroong tig siyam na puntos nine, at sina  Rob Herndon at Xyrus Torres ay mayroong anim at limang puntos.

The Scores:

NLEX 94 – Watkins 41, Bolick 21, Mocon 9, Policarpio 9, Herndon 6, Torres 5, Ramirez 3, Alas 0, Semerad 0.

EASTERN 76 – McLaughlin 18, Blankley 14, Yang 12, Lam 11, Cao 5, Cheung 5, Chan 4, Guinchard 3, Pok 2, Leung 2.

Quarter Scores: 18-23, 43-42, 65-57, 94-76.