MANILA, Philippines — NLEX stretched its perfect winning start at six after holding off TNT, 88-83 in their PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup match on Wednesday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The Road Warriors led by as many as 17 points, early in the third canto, before the Tropang 5G, which welcomed back big man Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, came charging back.
Rey Nambatac stood at the forefront of TNT’s strong second half fightback after scoring nine of his 13 points in that stretch.
But the Road Warriors managed to show their composure down the stretch to improve to a tournament-best 6-0 and maintain hold of leadership in Group A.
Wednesday’s match marked the first time new NLEX coach Jimmy Alapag faced his former team and mentor Chot Reyes of TNT.
Alapag stood at the forefront of TNT’s dominance during his heydays, helping the Manny V. Pangilinan-owned squad win six league titles, before he eventually moved to coaching.
DeQuan Jones led the Road Warriors with 27 points and seven rebounds.
LJay Gonzales added 11, while Robert Bolick survived a bad shooting night to still finish with 10 markers, five rebounds and five assists.
Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson led TNT with 22 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five steals.
Glenn Khobuntin and Ganuelas-Rosser, back for the first time after recovering from an ankle injury, added 13 apiece.
The Tropang 5G dropped to joint third spot at Group A with the Converge FiberXers at 3-3, behind San Miguel Beer’s 4-2 card.
