ANTIPOLO – NLEX bolstered its reputation as a darkhorse in the PBA 50th Season Philippine Cup, rolling past Blackwater, 99-88, to gain the provisional lead in the standings on Wednesday at the Ynares Center.
The Road Warriors leaned on a balanced attack led by JB Bahio and Xyrus Torres, orchestrated by the playmaking of Robert Bolick to grab their third straight win and improve to a 4-1 win-loss record.
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NLEX thus broke a five-way tie among teams with 3-1 cards to stretch its winning streak. TNT, among those five teams, can join them on top if the Tropang 5G beat Meralco in the day’s second game.
Blackwater lost for the third successive time and fell to 1-3, allowing Barangay Ginebra, Terrafirma, and Phoenix to tie them at eighth spot.
Bahio was always in the right place, at the right time as he finished with a career-high 23 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field, six rebounds, and two assists. The San Beda product scored nine of his output in the fourth quarter where the Road Warriors broke loose from the Bossing for good after a third-quarter rally.
Torres set the tone for NLEX, firing eight of his 18 points in the first quarter to help his team build a six-point lead.
Bolick, in his second game back since returning from the US where his father passed away, continued to regain his rhythm, putting up 15 points, 12 assists, five boards, and one steal as he constantly set up plays for his team that saw six players score at least nine points.
“Nakakahinga ng konti. Konti lang,” Road Warriors coach Jong Uichico said. “Pero alam namin, after this game, parang sunod-sunod na yung laro, konti lang yung prep time, so kailangan focused lnag kami lahat.”
“Alam namin na malalakas pa rin yung kalaban going down the stretch,” he added. “So we can’t take this win, parang nanalo kami ngayon, tapos na ‘to, kailangan we look to the next game.”
Sedrick Barefield and Dalph Panopio were the only two Bossing players who scored in twin digits withs 19 and 12 markers, respectively.
The scores:
NLEX 99 – Bahio 23, Torres 18, Bolick 15, Alas 13, Rodger 9, Ramirez 9, Mocon 6, Nieto 2, Herndon 2, Fajardo 2, Policarpio 0, Semerad 0
BLACKWATER 88 – Barefield 19, Panopio 12, David 9, Tratter 9, Mallilin 7, Murrell 6, Cruz-Dumont 6, Escoto 6, Guinto 5, Andrade 3, Zamar 3, Mendoza 3
Quarterscores: 27-21, 47-37, 71-66, 99-88
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