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| Maverick Ahanmisi showed superb playmaking for Terrafirma. Peter Baltazar |
MANILA—NLEX's hot start to the PBA Governors' Cup came to an end on Friday night as Terrafirma pulled off an 114-109 stunner to begin their second-round campaign at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The Dyip ended the game on a 7-0 run in the final minute and a half, highlighted by Geo Chiu's equalizer and Brent Paraiso's go-ahead layup.
While Paraiso missed the bonus free throw off DeQuan Jones' foul in his eventual game-winner, he made up for it by going 2-for-2 in his next trip to the foul line off Kevin Alas' foul with 13.9 seconds to go.
Jones tried to force overtime for the Road Warriors, but he missed his four-point attempt, and Maverick Ahanmisi's split sealed the Dyip's win.
Justin Strings led Terrafirma, which tied Converge for fourth place in Group A at 3-4, with 28 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, and two blocks.
Tiongson added 20 points, one rebound, and three assists, while Ahanmisi and JM Bravo each contributed 16 markers, with Ahanmisi also tallying 10 assists.
Robert Bolick and JB Bahio each had 20 points, with the latter grabbing 16 boards for NLEX, which lost for the first time this conference after sweeping the first round of the group stages.
The Scores:
TERRAFIRMA 114 – Strings 28, Tiongson 20, Paraiso 18, Bravo 16, Ahanmisi 15, Eriobu 8, Chiu 8, Hanapi 0, Mariano 0, Catapusan 0
NLEX 109 – Bolick 20, Bahio 20, Jones 19, Winston 16, Gonzales 15, Gamboa 8, Alas 4, Nelle 3, Capulong 2, Valdez 2, Semerad 0, Rodger 0
QUARTERS: 34-30, 60-65, 88-86, 114-109
