Frankie Lim, the head coach of NLEX, breathed a sigh of relief as Robert Bolick led the Road Warriors to another tough win.
As the game entered the fourth quarter, Bolick took over and led NLEX to a 99–96 win over Meralco in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum on March 6. He scored 26 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists.
Bolick was held to 10 points in the first three quarters but scored 16 in the fourth quarter to help the Road Warriors come back from a double-digit lead and win their second game in a row.
“We’re lucky to have Bolick. Just imagine if he is not on our team,” said Lim in Filipino.
“I want to look at it as a team effort. Each player made contributions. But of course, he is special.”
With less than seven minutes left, a Chris Newsome free throw gave the Bolts a 10-point lead, 85–75. But Bolick went on a scoring spree, scoring all four points in a 12–4 run that brought his team within 89–87.
After Dominick Fajardo set up Robbie Herndon for a three-pointer, NLEX took the lead 90–89. But Bolick made four free throws in a row to give the Road Warriors the lead 98–91.
But Meralco didn’t give up. They scored five straight points to get within 98-96, and rookie Enoch Valdez missed two free throws with less than 15 seconds left, giving them a chance to force overtime.
But Newsome missed the three-point shot that would have tied the game, and the Bolts lost their second game in a row.
Bolick had 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals from Valdez, who played defense, and Jhan Nermal scored 11 points.
But Bolick reserved his best praise for Herndon and Fajardo, who did a great job even though they had little to do at this conference.
Herndon scored 9 points, grabbed 4 rebounds, and stole 2 balls. Fajardo, who missed the first two games, scored 6 points and grabbed 3 rebounds.
“Shout out to Dom and Robbie. They gave us something extraordinary this game. The two won this game for us,” said Bolick.
Newsome had 22 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists in another close loss. Blackwater was Meralco’s first conference game a week ago, and the team lost by just 3 points.
Raymond Almazan scored 13 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in his first game in the conference after missing the first two games with the flu. Allein Maliksi scored 12 points and grabbed 4 rebounds for Meralco.
The Scores
NLEX 99
- Bolick 26
- Valdez 12
- Nermal 11
- Herndon 9
- Semerad 9
- Marcelo 7
- Miranda 7
- Fajardo 6
- Nieto 5
- Amer 3
- Pascual 2
- Ular 2
Meralco 96
- Newsome 22
- Jose 14
- Almazan 13
- Maliksi 12
- Hodge 10
- Torres 9
- Black 5
- Quinto 5
- Banchero 4
- Rios 2
- Mendoza 0
- Caram 0
- Pascual 0
Quarters: 26-28, 51-43, 64-72, 99-96.
