L-Jay Gonzales knocked down arguably the most memorable shot of his young career to lift NLEX past Meralco in an overtime classic, 104-101, for their fourth straight win in the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup on Friday night.
The rookie guard out of FEU made sure not to waste Robert Bolick’s bailout pass, bravely pulling the trigger from downtown to beat the final buzzer and complete the Road Warriors’ fightback from down 89-81 late in regulation.
Gonzales finished with 15 points as his game-winner not only rocked the Ynares Center II in Montalban, but, more significantly, enabled the Road Warriors to capture solo second with a 6-1 record, sitting just behind the 7-0 Rain or Shine.
That shot, furthermore, helped NLEX overcome the ejection of head coach Jong Uichico for initiating contact with an official with 2:12 left in the second period, leaving the coaching duties to Borgie Hermida and the other deputies.
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“The play was to disguise, because we’ve been running the last six, seven plays for the last five minutes. So, I thought of drawing another one to disguise, and eventually, it opened up L-Jay. Luckily, he hit it,” Hermida explained.
Cady Lalanne top-scored for the Road Warriors with monster numbers of 34 points and 25 rebounds plus three assists and three blocks, doing all that despite being hounded by foul trouble that saw him get called for five.
Deschon Winston made 21 points and five rebounds, while Robert Bolick added 11 points and eight assists as these three forced the extra five minutes.
NLEX actually stared at an 81-68 deficit early in the fourth, but Winston knocked down a four-pointer, then came Lalanne with a triple to lay the groundwork for a stirring 21-8 assault to even things out and push the game to another period.
The said run was capped by no less than their closer in Bolick, nailing a tough stepback triple to make it an 89-all deadlock with 27.8 seconds to go.
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The opposition went to Chris Newsome yet again for the final play, but the star guard deferred to Marvin Jones for the final shot, given the defense. The do-it-all import, however, missed his shot from long distance as time expired.
Meralco appeared to be sending the game into another OT when Jason Brickman tied the game at 101-all with 12.3 seconds left, but then came the magic play between Bolick and the young playmaker for the win.
“Sobrang nagpapasalamat ako sa kanila; sobrang laking tiwala nila sa akin,” expressed Gonzales. “Yung mga ganoong bagay siguro, kailangan ko rin pagtrabahuhan. Hindi naman basta-basta na ibibigay nila sa akin ‘yun.”
The victory shall give NLEX an added morale boost when they take on San Miguel Beer this Sunday, April 19, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
“It’s a big win for us, especially since we’re going up against San Miguel,” Hermida said. “So kailangan mataas ang kumpiyansa namin pagdating sa Sunday.”
Jones, on the other hand, led Meralco with 25 points and 13 rebounds in the loss that snapped their three-game winning streak, thus dropping to 5-2.
Newsome made 19 points and six rebounds. Former Road Warrior Javee Mocon had 17 points and seven rebounds in an apparently inspired performance against his ex-team, while CJ Cansino supplied 14.
Brickman finished with 13 points for the Bolts, who are now at solo third and will head into a lengthy break before facing the Beermen on April 28.
The Scores:
NLEX 104 – Lalanne 34, Winston 21, Gonzales 15, Bolick 11, Bahio 9, Rodger 7, Semerad 5, Alas 2, Racal 0, Herndon 0, Fajardo 0.
Meralco 101 – Jones 25, Newsome 19, Mocon 17, Cansino 14, Brickman 13, Quinto 7, Banchero 6, Hodge 0, Black 0, Almazan 0, Pascual 0, Rios 0.
Quarterscores: 14-19, 35-45, 64-76, 89-89, 104-101.
