NLEX finally laid its agonizing four-game losing skid to rest by crushing the also-ran Phoenix, 104-79, to keep its quarterfinal chances alive in the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup, Friday evening at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The Road Warriors unloaded 14 unanswered points to erase a one-point deficit and finish the first quarter with a 30-17 lead, and that’s all they needed to seize full control of the match as the Fuel Masters struggled to find their rhythm.
With the win, the crew improved to 4-5 in Group B, breaking a tie with Blackwater (3-5) to take solo fourth. They only need the Bossing to lose to San Miguel on Saturday to secure the spot and complete the pool’s quarters cast.
“Kami, nanalo kami, we did our job today. We’ll try to do our job also on Sunday,” said head coach Jong Uichico as they take on Barangay Ginebra in the penultimate gameday of the group phase in the same venue.
DeQuan Jones top-scored for NLEX with 27 points on a perfect 2-of-2 clip from the four-point area, alongside seven rebounds. Main man Robert Bolick supplied 19 points, which he laced with five boards and nine assists.
Baser Amer provided an off-the-bench spark in the crucial win, finishing with 14 points on 6-of-1- shooting from the field — including a pair of three-pointers — in only 10 minutes en route to earning Player of the Game honors.
“Tinitingnan lang namin dito, one game at a time lang kami,” Amer said. “May game pang isa sa Sunday. Sobrang importante ng panalo na ‘to.”
Enoch Valdez provided 10 points while rookie Jonnel Policarpio fell just short of a double-double as he made eight points and 10 rebounds.
The Fuel Masters, on the other hand, ended the conference at 1-9, its worst ever in a conference since taking over the Barako Bull franchise back in the 2016 Commissioner’s Cup, per PBA stats chief Fidel Mangonon III.
Their previous worst was 2-9 back in the 2016-17 Governors’ Cup under then-head coach Ariel Vanguardia, who was replaced shortly after that.
Sean Manganti led Phoenix with 13 points and six rebounds. Tyler Tio made 12 points in the loss that saw the team trail by as many as 33 points, 61-94.
Jason Perkins and Raul Soyud added 11 and 10, respectively, as the locals picked it up on a night Brandone Francis curiously scored only four points.
The Scores:
NLEX 104 – Jones 27, Bolick 19, Amer 14, Valdez 10, Policarpio 8, Nermal 8, Torres 5, Fajardo 4, Herndon 3, Mocon 2, Nieto 2, Semerad 2, Anthony 0, Miranda 0, Marcelo 0, Rodger 0.
Phoenix 79 – Manganti 13, Tio 12, Perkins 11, Soyud 10, Rivero 7, Alejandro 7, Jazul 7, Francis 4, Muyang 3, Ballungay 3, Salado 2, Verano 0, Tuffin 0, Garcia 0, Daves 0, Ular 0.
Quarterscores: 30-17, 54-37, 83-55, 104-79.
