Rookie sensation Kiefer Ravena of NLEX tries to get past Kia’s Eric Camson in the former’s pro debut yesterday at the FilOil Flying V Arena.
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IN SEARCH of a franchise player ever since taking over and overhauling the NLEX Road Warriors at the start of last season, coach Yeng Guiao has now found one in Kiefer Ravena.
Coming up three rebounds short of a triple double, Ravena’s 18 points and 12 assists helped the Road Warriors pull out a 119-115 decision of KIA Picanto as NLEX – although in such a rocky manner – got its Philippine Cup bid off on the right foot Wednesday night at San Juan Arena.
NLEX trailed big at the start as the Picanto played with so much purpose after being maligned for all of the off-season with questionable manpower movement, and the Road Warriors needed a critical four-point play from the veteran Larry Fonacier with 66 seconds left to gut out the win.
Guiao maximized his bench, getting eight players in twin digits, and the Road Warriors will use this contest to fine tune their game as they prepare to slug it out with the powerhouses in the league.
Need to improve
“It was exactly what we expected, a hard game for us,” Guiao told reporters, although he seemed visibly disappointed with pundits listing the Road Warriors with a huge manpower advantage.
“We will take this win how hard it came,” he went on. “We’re trying to build chemistry and we need to improve on a lot of things.”
Mike Miranda scored 14 points before fouling out and being helped off the floor in the dying minutes.
Kevin Alas showed that he can share the point guard spot with Ravena and finished with 14, while Fonacier wound up with 12 capped by that triple where he drew a foul from Philip Paniamogan to give the Road Warriors the breathing room they needed, 117-113.
KIA almost won out in an offense-oriented game despite a roster that was criticized heavily before the start of the season.
Eric Camson, a former NLEX forward, scored 24 points to lead the Picanto, who got 12 points from Jay-R Reyes, counting six straight that had KIA coming within 115-117.