XYRUS Torres had a near perfect outing to lift NLEX to a 109-95 win over Rain or Shine on Saturday in the PBA 49th Season Philippine Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The Road Warriors rookie scored 28 points on 11 of 12 shooting from the field to help his team claim their first win in their second game of the conference.
The Elasto Painters lost their first game of the conference after reaching the semifinals of the Commissioner’s Cup.
Robert Bolick had a double-double, finishing with 23 points and 12 assists as the Road Warriors led by as many as 17 points, 71-54.
NLEX coach Jong Uichico was glad with the team’s shooting while also taking advantage of Rain or Shine playing its first game of the conference.
“Every time we shoot well, our offense seems to be working perfectly. We shot well tonight,” said Uichico. “It’s good that we played Rain or Shine in their first game so medyo rusty sila, still finding their rhythm. Kami we already played our first game. We were able to make adjustments. And we shot well tonight.”
Torres was a perfect 6 of 6 from two-point range, and went 5 of 6 from threes, his only miss coming in the final minutes of the ballgame.
As a team, NLEX shot 55.3 percent from the field, including an 11 of 18 clip from threes.
Caelan Tiongson had 24 points and seven rebounds for the Elasto Painters, who missed the service of Beau Belga due to vertigo and Shaun Ildefonso because of an ankle sprain.
The scores:
NLEX 109 – Torres 28, Bolick 23, Semerad 18, Mocon 12, Bahio 8, Nieto 5, Fajardo 5, Ramirez 3, Policarpio 2, Alas 2, Miranda 2, Valdez 1.
Rain or Shine 95 – Tiongson 24, Santillan 13, Clarito 12, Nocum 11, Mamuyac 10, Caracut 9, Norwood 6, Malonzo 5, Lemetti 3, Asistio 2, Datu 0.
Quarters: 32-25; 60-50; 86-73; 109-95.
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