NLEX played on high gear all night and ran over skidding Terrafirma, 117-87, for a fifth straight victory in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup Wednesday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Head coach Jong Uichico emptied his bench in the clinical dismantling of the Dyip as the Road Warriors, despite ace scorer Robert Bolick logging a paltry three points, improved to a 5-1 win-loss record.

Brandon Ramirez sparked the blowout with a 10-point explosion in NLEX’s 33-16 first quarter separation.

The bulky forward finished with a career-best 21 points off a 7-of-12 field goal shooting and pulled down four rebounds.

JB Bahio had a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, Rob Herndon added 15 while Javee Mocon finished with 13 markers and 12 boards for NLEX, which played sans rookie Jonnel Policarpio due to an illness.

“Everybody played well, and everybody was in the right mindset. But in the course of the game, we saw some complacent lapses which resulted in some mistakes like giving up (unnecessary fouls). Those things that we try to avoid. I think we should play smarter than that one,” Uichico said.

“And when we do turn the ball over, you get sloppy, it’s a sign of you get complacent just because the score is big and they caught up,” he added.

“It’s good that we’re able to recover. But generally, they came in with the right framework and mindset.”

The Road Warriors only trailed once, 2-3, before revving up to open a huge gap that the Terrafirma never trimmed back to a single digit.

Enoch Valdez was the last player off the bench that Uichico fielded and took advantage of his three minutes by nailing a trey with 25 seconds remaining for the final count and NLEX’s biggest lead of the ball game.

Bolick saw action for over 37 minutes but played the role of facilitator, dishing out 10 assists and grabbing eight rebounds with three steals. He shot 1-of-8 from the field.

The Dyip suffered their sixth straight loss in seven outings, averaging a losing margin of 30 points.

Kevin Ferrer had 21 points, Mark Sangalang’s double-double of 15 markers and 11 boards went for naught, while Mark Nonoy had 11 points for Terrafirma.

Brent Paraiso scored 10 for the Dyip, who were outrebounded by the much smaller Road Warriors, 34-61.

The scores:

NLEX (117) --- Ramirez 21, Bahio 17, Herndon 15, Mocon 13, Alas 9, Valdez 9, Amer 7, Miranda 6, Semerad 6, Torres 6, Nieto 3, Bolick 3, Fajardo 2

TERRAFIRMA (87) --- Ferrer 23, Sangalang 15, Nonoy 11, Paraiso 10, Zaldivar 8, Pringle 7, Melecio 5, Catapusan 4, Ramos 4, Hernandez 0, Hanapi 0, Olivario 0

QUARTERS: 33-16, 63-44, 87-70, 117-87