NLEX, Terrafirma start strong in PBA Governors’ Cup

Sports

THE NLEX Road Warriors gave their new head coach a winning debut while the Terrafirma Dyip zoomed to their own auspicious start after they hacked out separate wins in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup, which got going on Friday, July 10, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.

The Road Warriors, now coached by former PBA star Jimmy Alapag, demolished the Macau Giant Pandas, 114-75, while the Dyip ran over the importless Titan Ultra Giant Risers, 113-100.

Import DeQuan Jones turned in a double-double performance to lead NLEX, finishing with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Kevin Alas logged an efficient 20 minutes of play after tallying 19 points, three rebounds, two assists, and two steals in a reserve role.

Three other Road Warriors scored in double figures in a balanced attack that flattened the Giant Pandas, who marked the start of their second straight conference with an awful performance.

Macau also saw action in the Commisisoner’s Cup where it won just three of its 12 games.

Terrafirma, on the other hand, got 25 points and 16 rebounds from import Justin Strings but it was rookie center Geo Chiu who really stood out after he piled up career highs of 19 points and 23 rebounds.

JM Bravo, Didat Hanapi, Juami Tiongson, and Maverick Ahanmisi added at least 10 points each, helping Terrafirma outduel a Titan team that played without an import.

Titan was supposed to parade James Edward Milton as its import to replace Tirrell Brown but could not suit up after failing to get his FIBA clearance on time.

THE SCORES:

FIRST GAME

TERRAFIRMA (113) – Strings 25, Chiu 19, Bravo 15, Hanapi 14, Tiongson 13, Ahanmisi 11, Eriobu 9, Paraiso 5, Zaldivar 2, UNali 0, Garcia 0, Catapusan 0, Mariano 0, Miller 0.

TITAN (100) – Dionisio 21, Munzon 15, Sumang 9, Sajonia 9, Cuntapay 9, Balanza 6, Yu 5, Amores 5, Omega 4, Pessumal 2, Ambohot 2, Caralipio 2, Ular 0, Inigo 0.QUARTERSCORES: 29-25; 51-46; 79-76; 113-100.

SECOND GAME

NLEX (114) — Jones 23, Alas 19, Gonzales 13, Bahio 11, Winston 10, Bolick 9, Ramirez 6, Torres 6, Valdez 5, Gamboa 5, Capulong 4, Nieto 3, Herndon 0, Semerad 0, Rodger 0, Racal 0.

MACAU (75) — Chongqui 35, Perry 26, Cao 4, Liu 4, Lam 4, Li 2, Y. Zhang 0, Chao 0, Z. Zhang 0.QUARTERSCORES: 18-13, 45-36, 81-58, 114-75.(CCM)