By ADRIAN STEWART CO
Robert Bolick, Jr. connected with crucial three-pointers in the endgame as the NLEX Road Warriors scored a 103-97 victory over the Blackwater Bossing in the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City on Wednesday night, March 13.
Holding to a slim 97-94 lead with over a minute left, Bolick converted a three-pointer to widen the Road Warriors’ lead to 100-97.
After the Bossing cut the deficit to 97-100, Bolick connected anew from the outside to secure the win.
Bolick finished with a near triple-double of 21 points, nine rebounds and nine assists as the Road Warriors secured their fourth consecutive victory to improve to a 4-1 win-loss slate.
“Tulad nga ng sinasabi ni coach Frankie [Lim], ‘Mabuti na lang may Bolick kami,’” Road Warriors assistant coach Borgie Hermida said.
“Ninety percent of the time na kay Bolick ang bola and 90 percent of the time, he does good decisions,” he said.
“You know what’s good with Robert is he produces a lot of scores for us, but if you look at the assist department, magaling din siyang pumasa eh, like in this game, he has nine assists,” he added.
Negrense Jhan Nermal finished with 16 points and seven rebounds. Dominick Fajardo tallied a career-high of 14 points, mostly in the fourth quarter, while Anthony Semerad and Ritchie Rodger combined for 20 points for the Road Warriors.
Meanwhile, Ryan Roose “RR” Garcia delivered a vintage performance as the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters cruised to a 94-78 victory over the Terrafirma Dyip for their first win of the season.
The former Far Eastern University Tamaraws guard flirted with a triple-double with 20 points, a career-high of 10 assists and six rebounds as the Fuel Masters improved to a 1-2 record.
“[It was] vintage RR,” Fuel Masters assistant coach Paolo Dizon said in a post-game interview.
“‘Yung composure ni RR played a crucial point in our turnaround against Terrafirma,” he added.
Jason Perkins led the Fuel Masters with 18 points on top of seven rebounds and five assists. Kenneth Tuffin also came through with 17 markers and nine boards, while Larry Muyang scored 13 points./ASC, WDJ
NLEX 103 — Bolick 21, Nermal 16, Herndon 14, Fajardo 14, Amer 12, Semerad 11, Rodger 9, Marcelo 4, Valdez 2, Miranda 0, Pascual 0.
BLACKWATER 97 — Suerte 21, Rosario 16, Nambatac 16, Tungcab 15, Guinto 12, Ilagan 8, David 4, Yap 3, Escoto 2, Sena 0, Hill 0, Kwekuteye 0, Jopia 0.
Quarterscores: 22-26, 50-51, 71-72, 103-97.