Garcia, Hodge carry NLEX over Blackwater

THE NLEX Road Warriors turned to RR Garcia and Cliff Hodge to lead them to a 75-73 win over the Blackwater Elite in the PBA D-League Aspirants Cup yesterday over at the Trinity University of Asia gym.

The duo, who struggled with their games in the first half, scored all but two of their team’s last 24 points as NLEX wiped out a 51-61 deficit in the last 5:47.

Garcia went 4 of 6, including 3 3-pointers during that span while Hodge went 5 of 5 with a 3-point shot.

The loss was a heartbreaker for Blackwater, which picked up its third consecutive defeat.

The Elite battled back from a 13-point  deficit in the third period, led by 10 on a basket by Chris Camus with 6:16 to play but faltered on both ends the rest of the way. It was the second straight win and third overall in four games for the Road Warriors.

Ronald Pascual, Calvin Abueva, Ian Sanggalang (San Sebastian) and Dave Marcelo played for three quarters but hurriedly left at the start of the fourth quarter to play for their respective school teams in the Philippine Collegiate Championship League.

Garcia finished with 18 points, five assists and one steal. Hodge showed the way for NLEX with 23 points and nine rebounds. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio