NLEX escapes Ginebra blitz, extends win streak to four

NLEX survived a furious fourth quarter rally by Barangay Ginebra in an 89-86 cardiac victory to extend its winning run to four in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup Wednesday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.       

Rookie Xyrus Torres nailed the go-ahead triple with 49 seconds remaining to shut down the Gin Kings’ fightback from 17 points down before Robert Bolick iced the game from the foul line as the Road Warriors stayed in second spot with a 4-1 win-loss record.

“It’s good that we experienced it because we’re not really young but a pretty young team and to be able to get some confidence to be in that type of game, that will pay dividends later in the end,” NLEX coach Jong Uichico said.

Bolick scored 28 points off a 10-of-14 field goal shooting and added seven rebounds, four assists and a block in over 40 minutes of action.

Torres, who before his heroics turned the ball over after fumbling a Bolick pass, finished with 11 markers, Brandon Ramirez had 11 points and Kevin Alas added 10 for the Road Warriors.

NLEX went on a 21-5 tear in the third quarter to build a 58-41 advantage after Bolick connected a triple with 4:31 left in the third quarter.

Ginebra fought back in the fourth behind Stephen Holts’ hot hands, hitting 18 of his 21 points in the canto including a split from the foul line to give his team an 82-81 advantage with 2:14 left.

Scottie Thompson extended the Kings’ lead to three after Torres’ error before Bolick equalized with a triple to make it 84-all. Thompson gave Ginebra its last taste of the lead, 86-84, off a layup with 1:14 left.

Thompson had 20 points and six rebounds while Jamie Malonzo and RJ Abarrientos finished with 11 each as the Kings fall to a 2-2 mark.

The scores:

NLEX (89) --- Bolick 28, Torres 11, Ramirez 11, Alas 10, Mocon 8, Bahio 6, Semerad 6, Fajardo 5, Rodger 2, Policarpio 2, Nieto 0

GINEBRA (86) --- Holt 21, Thompson 20, Malonzo 11, Abarrientos 11, Rosario 8, J.Aguilar 7, Adamos 6, Pinto 2, Cu 0, David 0, Mariano 0

QUARTERS: 13-23, 37-36, 67-53, 89-86