The NLEX Road Warriors rallied from 22-points down to defeat the Rain or Shine E-Painters, 109-100, in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
Speaheading NLEX’ furious comeback from a 54-32 deficit was none other than import KJ McDaniels who came up big in the third canto where he scored 15 points to keep the Road Warriors within striking distance. He also made a turnaround jumper to tie the score at 97-all with just 4.4 seconds remaining in regulation and eventually, send the game to the extra session.
The former Houston Rocket also coolly canned two free-throws with a little over two minutes left in overtime to give NLEX a 103-97 lead, which held until the game’s final buzzer. McDaniels finished with 35 points and 12 rebounds to lift NLEX to their seventh win in 10 games.
Guard Kevin Alas added 15 markers while power forward JR Quinahan had 13. Jericho Cruz, playing in his final game for NLEX before transferring to San Miguel, chipped in 13.
NLEX head coach Yeng Guiao lamented his team’s lackadaisical effort on the glass early on.
“We started out badly. We were giving up offensive rebounds all game long. That’s as bad as not playing defense actually,” said Guiao.
Henry Walker scored 28 points for Rain or Shine while Rey Nambatac put up 27, including a triple that gave the E-Painters a 97-92 lead with 36 ticks left. However, Quinahan came up with a three-pointer of his own to set the stage for McDaniel’s game-tying deuce.
NLEX comes back from 22-points down to stun Rain or Shine
