LJAY Gonzales drained a wide-open three-pointer at the buzzer off a feed from Robert Bolick as NLEX beat Meralco in overtime, 104-101, on Friday in the PBA 50th Season Commissioner's Cup at the Ynares Center II.
The NLEX rookie's timely heroics enabled the Road Waririos to overcome a 17-point deficit as well as the ejection of head coach Jong Uichico as they broke loose from a tie with Meralco for solo second place with a 6-1 win-loss record.
READ Uichico loses cool, ejected from NLEX-Meralco game
Bolick earlier also sent the game into overtime with a deep three in the face of Jason Brickman with 23.8 seconds in regulation to tie the game at 89-all.
Jason Brickman's clutch trey tied the second again at 101-all before Gonzales got open after Meralco's defense collapsed on Bolick, and calmly hit the three-pointer that extended the Bolts' winning streak to four.
“In the third quarter, we started flat. But hats off to the players. They didn't give up,” said NLEX assistant coach Borgie Hermida, who took charge after Uichico's ejection.
Gonzales and Bolick made their only three of the game in the clutch after both were 0-for-3 prior to the crucial shots. Gonzales finished with 15 points, while Bolick had 11 in his lowest scoring output in the conference.
Cady Lalanne had 34 points, 25 rebounds, and three blocks, and Schonny Winston added 21 points for NLEX, which trailed most of the way after scoring the first two points of the game.
It was a disappointing loss for Meralco, which was still up, 89-81, before NLEX mounted an 8-0 blast capped off by that Bolick three to end the fourth quarter.
Marvin Jones had 25 points and 13 rebounds, but missed a four-point shot in the final possession of regulation. Chris Newsome had 19 points for the Bolts, who dropped to 5-2.
The scores:
NLEX 104 – Lalanne 34, Winston 21, Gonzales 15, Bolick 11, Bahio 9, Rodger 7, Semerad 5, Alas 2, Racal 0, Herndon 0, Fajardo 0.
Meralco 101 – Jones 25, Newsome 19, Mocon 17, Cansino 14, Brickman 13, Quinto 7, Banchero 6, Black 0, Hodge 0, Almazan 0, Pascual 0, Rios 0.
Quarters: 14-19; 35-45; 64-76; 89-89; 104-101.
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