NLEX waited a long time to exact revenge on the team that caused its early playoffs exit in the previous conference.

Robert Bolick and the rest of the Road Warriors got their payback Saturday by crushing depleted Rain or Shine, 105-91, for a share of the second spot in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Philippine Cup at the Ynares Center-Antipolo.

“We’re able to score a payback. This is the team that eliminated us in the quarterfinals of last conference,” Bolick said of the team’s extra motivation to get back on the winning track. 

The Road Warriors’ fifth victory to tie their victim with an identical 5-2 win-loss record washed away the bitter aftertaste of their quarterfinals loss in the season-ending all-Filipino conference of Season 49.

It was a humiliating defeat as the twice-to-beat and second-seeded NLEX was beaten twice by the No. 7-ranked Elasto Painters.

Bolick, this time, exploded for 28 points with six rebounds and five assists in the Road Warriors’ rebound from a 30-point beating at the hands of Barangay Ginebra on 2 November. 

He also accomplished a personal mission to bounce back after a paltry four markers on 1-of-7 field goal shooting against the Kings.

“That game against Ginebra, we felt that our opponent was just more desperate for a win. They got the jump on us, and we could not recover,” he said.

NLEX exploited Rain or Shine’s gaping hole in the middle with a decimated frontline compounded by the season-ending patellar tendon injury of big man Keith Datu recently.

The Road Warriors pounded from down low, outscoring the Elasto Painters, 56-34, in points in the paint.

“We also just took advantage of them missing a couple of players,” Bolick said.

NLEX even built a 22-point gap at one point, 94-72, from a Dominic Fajardo layup with eight minutes left in the fourth period.

Still, head coach Jong Uichico felt the Road Warriors had to address their problem with sudden dips in intensity during games.

“We had a lull again today in the second quarter so I guess we did not address that. But later on in the second and in the third quarter we’re able to get back,” he said.

“So, I guess we still have to go back to the drawing board to see how we can solve that lull.”