MAHINDRA flexed its muscles in crunch time to notch its second straight win and gain solo second place after a 106-99 victory over NLEX in the 2016 Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup Friday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Import Augustus Gilchrist had his finest performance so far, scoring a game-high 30 points for the Enforcers.
With the game slipping away from its hands when it saw itself down, 87-90, with just over five minutes left, Mahindra finished strong to improve to 3-1 for the sole possession of second place.
The Enforcers erected a decisive 11-2 run in a four-minute span in the last five minutes to create a critical cushion, 98-92, with under two minutes left.
That proved to be the game’s deciding factor as the Road Warriors were unable to recover from that point and Mahindra held on to continue its rousing start.
“It’s a crucial win for us,” said Mahindra coach Chito Victolero. “I told the players to play 48 minutes and go hard and we were able to do that. The players stayed composed and we were able to stop their runs.”
Overall, Mahindra finished the game with a concluding 19-9 blitz.
Nino Canaleta and Chito Jaime also had splendid showings for Mahindra.
Canaleta scored 21 points and added seven rebounds, while Jaime surprisingly had a solid double-double of 15 points and 11 boards.
Three more Enforcers tallied in twin-digits as Mike Digregorio had 13, Aldrech Ramos added 12 and LA Revilla hit 10.
NLEX dropped to 2-2 and is now tied for fourth with idle Blackwater, which holds a similar mark.
Led by the improved play of Gilchrist and the help he got from various Enforcers, Mahindra controlled most of the first half and held the lead for the most part.
It even led by double-digit, 39-28, after two free throws from Gilchrist around halfway the second period, but NLEX countered with a 17-9 run to end the first half and trim the gap to only three, 48-45, at intermission for the Elite.
The third quarter saw Mahindra restore a double-digit lead, but NLEX quickly showed resistance and once again made it a tight contest heading into the payoff period with the Enforcers’ lead only at four, 78-74, leaving the last 12 minutes as the deciding stretch.
Both imports had good starts as Gilchrist already had 14 markers and Al Thornton 15 at the turn.
Thornton led NLEX with his team-high 29 points.