NLEX brings Ginebra's run to a screeching halt

Ginebra was coming off two blowout victories and was hoping to make it three wins in a row, but the combination of NLEX’s Mac Cardona, Asi Taulava, Jonas Villanueva and Aldrech Ramos in the final period surprised the Gin Kings.

The Road Warriors were trailing the Gin Kings, 62-66, going to the fourth, but NLEX was able to pressure Ginebra to committing 19 turnovers and this translated to 19 points for NLEX.

“We had a bad game against Talk n Text and I challenged the players to step up on defense. I do believe they can play ‘D’ on any given night. It proved right tonight,” said NLEX coach Boyet Fernandez in the league's official website.

“I’d like to thank my players for buying my game plan to put the pressure on Ginebra’s ball carriers,” Fernandez added. “Ginebra is averaging 22 assists per game and we really had to stop them from running the triangle by playing man-to-man and man-zone before dropping to zone.”

Cardona scored 25 markers while Jonas Villanueva had 14 points. Nino Canaleta added 13 points for the Road Warriors.

NLEX used a simple yet effective formula to cut erstwhile undefeated Barangay Ginebra down to size: zone defense.

The Road Warriors neutralized the Gin Kings’ dominant frontline and forced them to take outside shots in the payoff canto, enabling them to pull off a stunning 97-81 victory on Wednesday night to get their PBA Philippine Cup campaign back on track at the Araneta Coliseum.

After a battling back-and-forth in the first three quarters, NLEX employed an airtight zone defense that threw Ginebra’s prized twin towers of Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter off-balanced then found its offensive groove just in time in the payoff period to complete one of the tournament’s early stunners.

Guard Mac Cardona led all scorers with 25 points but it was the likes of Jonas Villanueva, Aldrech Ramos, KG Canaleta, Asi Taulava and rookie Jeckster Apinan who teamed up in a decisive attack in the pivotal canto where the Road Warriors outscored the Gin Kings 35-15, highlighted by a back-breaking 19-6 run.

Aside from recovering big time from an 83-101 drubbing dealt by sister team Talk ‘N Text last Friday, NLEX also improved its mark to 2-1, pulling abreast of Ginebra as its latest victim saw its two-game winning streak come to a screeching halt. Rain or Shine also totes a 2-1 card.

Ginebra’s high-flying wingman Chris Ellis tallied 12 of his 19 points in the third canto but could not get his game going, along with the 6-foot-9 Aguilar (17 markers) and the 6-foot-11 Slaughter (13 points and 17 rebounds), in the crunch when the Road Warriors took their defensive tenacity a notch higher.

Tied at the break at 34-all following a defensive battle in the first half, both teams started to heat up in the third canto, with Cardona taking the cudgels for the Road Warriors and Ellis doing the same for the Gin Kings.

But Ginebra, which took a 66-62 lead into the fourth, suddenly turned cold when NLEX locked down defensively behind a zone defense, forcing the Gin Kings to throw bricks one after another while translating every defensive stop into easy buckets.

Canaleta, a former Gin King, drained back-to-back triples, the last sparking a telling 14-1 run in a four-minute stretch, turning a four-point deficit into an 81-72 lead with 6:16 left to play.

A baseline jumper by center Billy Mamaril snapped Ginebra’s scoring drought but NLEX unloaded another 9-2 surge, capped by Ramos’ triple for a whopping 90-76 cushion going to the last 1:46 of play.

The scores:

NLEX 97 
Cardona 25
Villanueva J. 14
Canaleta 13
Ramos 10
Apinan 10
Taulava 9
Baloria 8
Borboran 6
Raymundo 2
Camson 0
Villanueva E. 0
Arboleda 0
Villarias 0.

GINEBRA 81 
Ellis 19
Aguilar 17
Slaughter 13
Caguioa 8
Mamaril 6
Tenorio 4
Urbiztondo 3
Helterbrand 3
Yeo 3
Baracael 3
Brondial 2
Forrester 0
Reyes 0

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Source:
https://ph.sports.yahoo.com/news/nlex-brings-ginebra-s-run-to-a-screeching-halt-133512355-nba.html