ANTIPOLO CITY - It was JR Quinahan's way of making up for a major blunder.
The veteran big man buried two huge three-pointers in overtime that carried NLEX to a thrilling 116-110 lead over Alaska and kept its playoffs hopes alive in the PBA Governors Cup on Friday night at the Ynares Center here.
Quinahan went 3-of-6 from three-point range, the biggest coming inside the final minute of extra time that put the Road Warriors in front for good, 112-110.
He finished with 15 points and nine rebounds as NLEX evened its record to 5-5 and got back in contention for a quarterfinal berth.
"Naka-tsamba lang. Bumawi lang ako kasi yung turnover ko kanina very crucial yun," said the Cebuano big man, who came through with 10 points in overtime.
Quinahan was obviously referring to his turnover with 10 seconds left in regulation after mistakenly passing out to Alaska guard Ping Exciminiano with the Aces holding on to a 98-97 lead.
The error led to a Vic Manuel split from the foul line, but Quinahan and NLEX fortunately got a new lease on life when import NLEX Aaron Fuller scored inside to send the game into overtime.
NLEX coach Yeng Guiao surprisingly kept Quinahan in the game and the veteran center soon repaid his longtime coach's faith.
"Except for one error in the last set, but I knew he was a veteran so I left him inside. I knew he would make up for it, and he did," said Guiao.
"Those were big baskets that he scored."
But there was no denying Guiao was furious after Quinahan threw the ball away late in regulation with the outcome of the game hanging in the balance.
Asked what his coach told him in the ensuing timeout, Quinahan giggled and said he'd rather keep it to himself.
"Huwag na, mahirap sabihin," he said with a chuckle. "Sa amin na lang yun."