ROBERT Bolick turned the Smart-Araneta Coliseum into his personal playground as NLEX cruised past hapless Converge 115-93 in the PBA Philippine Cup on Saturday night.
The prolific playmaker knocked down a buzzer-beating triple to score a new career-high of 46 points on 17-of-25 shooting, on top of eight assists, five boards, and only one turnover in over 34 minutes of play to lead the Road Warriors to their second win in four days.
NLEX improved to 3-1 overall to grab solo third spot behind unbeaten teams Blackwater (3-0) and Barangay Ginebra (1-0).
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The Road Warriors also dealt Converge its fourth straight loss to remain winless.
For a while, though, the FiberXers looked poised to end their slump as they established an early eight-point lead, 25-17, in the first quarter where Bryan Santos and Justine Arana combined for 19 points.
But the Road Warriors proved they’re simply the superior team as they turned the game around and held a two-point halftime lead that ballooned to 22 points, 99-77, in the fourth quarter.
“I told my team in the half that we cannot let this team hang around. We needed a good run and might as well do it in the third,” NLEX coach Frankie Lim said.
“I’m just happy for my players especially this guy,” he added, referring to Bolick. “He has a new career-high and he played very well on pick-and-rolls.”
Bolick scored two more points than his previous career-best, which he did in a NorthPort uniform in a 101-95 overtime win against Meralco in last season’s Commissioner’s Cup.
Robbie Herndon also caught fire late, putting up 12 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter to help the Road Warriors pull away. He also contributed five rebounds and three assists.
Jhan Nermal and Baser Amer also finished in double-figure scoring with 13 and 10 points, respectively, for NLEX.
Arana led the FiberXers with 20 points, five caroms, three assists, and one block in over 33 minutes.
The scores:
NLEX 115 – Bolick 46, Herndon 17, Nermal 13, Amer 10, Ular 6, Valdez 5, Nieto 4, Semerad 4, Charcos 3, Rodger 3, Fajardo 2, Marcelo 2, Miranda 0, Pascual 0
CONVERGE 93 – Arana 20, Santos 18, Stockton 13, Winston 10, Ambohot 8, Melecio 5, Vigan-Fleming 4, Delos Santos 4, Fornilos 3, Balanza 3, Nieto 3, Zaldivar 2, Maagdenberg 0, Caralipio 0
Quarterscores: 24-28, 54-52, 84-71, 115-93
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