After back-to-back defeats, Mahindra Floodbuster have finally barged into the win column of the 2017 PBA Commissioner’s Cup with an 89-81 mastery of NLEX Road Warriors, Friday evening at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
“Extremely great win tonight,” said Mahindra head coach Chris Gavina in the win, which sends their record to 1-2. “We corrected our mistakes.”
Reinforcement James White’s effort finally paid off with the victory. The lone double-digit scorer for the Floodbuster led his team with a double-double of 30 points on 12-of-18 shooting, along with 23 rebounds in 29 minutes he played.
“We did a great job of going to our strengths tonight, helping James get the ball and makes plays for us,” Gavina added.
The Road Warriors actually threatened a comeback in the payoff period, climbing back from a 12-point hole, 74-62, to close within six, 76-70, after consecutive lay-ups by Bradwyn Guinto and Jansen Rios with 7:29 to go.
But luckily for the Mahindra side, Mark Yee made five straight points off a triple and a jumper, and LA Revilla hit a trey of his own to help the Floodbuster re-erect a wide 14-point advantage, 74-60, with 3:51 on the clock.
NLEX gave one last run in the game’s waning moments. An Eric Camson split from the foul line inched them closer, 84-75, with 31 seconds to go, but they could go no further, as Revilla’s foul shots with 24 ticks left sealed the deal.
Guards Revilla, Reden Celda, and Gary David each chipped in nine markers.
“Our guards did a tremendous job in making the defense collapse and finding those shooters,” said Gavina.
As expected, Wayne Chism carried the load once again for NLEX, scoring 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting with 21 rebounds. Rios backed him up with 15 markers and six boards in the loss, which marks their third straight and coach Yeng Guiao’s worst start since the 2009 Philippine Cup.
Despite losing, NLEX still managed to win on a few team stats department. They out-rebounded Mahindra, 60-52, and scored better off second chances, 18-10 and off the break, 18-11.
However, Mahindra shot better, nailing 30-of-74 from the field for a 41 percent clip. And their bench unit also had a notable outing, contributing 38 points to their output.
Both squad’s next matches will be on March 29, Wednesday, at the Mall of Asia Arena. Mahindra will play Alaska at 4:15 PM, while NLEX will take on Star at 7:00 PM.
The Scores:
Mahindra (89) – White 30, Revilla 9, Celda 9, David 9, Arana 9, Mallari 7, Yee 5, Paniamogan 3, Galanza 3, Deutchman 2, Apinan 2, Salva 1, Ballesteros 0.
NLEX (81) – Chism 28, Rios 15, Camson 8, Soyud 7, Lnete 6, Alas 5, Taulava 4, Lastimosa 2, Tiongson 2, Guinto 2, Khobuntin 2, Baracael 0, Monfort 0, J. Villanueva 0.
Quarterscores: 24-18, 44-34, 68-62, 89-81.
