Robert Bolick completely stole the spotlight from Justin Brownlee with his endgame heroics, towing NLEX past Barangay Ginebra, 118-113, for its third win in the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup on Friday at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The night appeared to belong to the Kings’ star as he erupted for 46 points and led the crowd darlings to the 112-106 lead with 4:29 remaining, but the Road Warriors’ main man showed once more why he’s been their closer.
Making sure that Cady Lalanne’s efforts won’t go for naught, ‘Berto’ nailed the go-ahead trey to put themselves up for good, 115-113, with 46.1 seconds left.
Ginebra would no longer be able to convert with Scottie Thompson missing from near the four, and Bolick went on to finish it off as he scored their last three points–all from the free throw line–inside the final 25.5 seconds of the match.
The star guard scored his team’s last six points and ended up with 32 points, seven rebounds, and four assists as he steered NLEX back to the win column after losing to Bol Bol and the TNT Tropang 5G in Antipolo the last time out.
(C) PBA Images
“Mahirap kalaban ang Ginebra with its championship experience, and this should–hindi naman momentum-builder–but hopefully, gets us to the next level and to know how to play close games,” said head coach Jong Uichico.
Lalanne came through with a commendable performance of his own with 28 points and 14 rebounds as he set the stage for Bolick’s clutch hits.
The Haitian big man was responsible for cutting the opposition’s lead to a point, 113-112, following a hook shot with 1:23 to go, which he made moments after Brownlee failed to go 2-for-2 from the line as he only split his bonuses.
Then came the Bolick takeover, proving once more Uichico’s sentiments in the past, in which he said that his prized guard is born to take big shots
“Hard work and preparation. Ginagawa ko sa practice,” said the 30-year-old native of Ormoc City of his booming triple, which he made against the defense of RJ Abarrientos.
The same goes with guard Deschon Winston, who delivered 21 points, 13 of which he made in the third quarter alone, on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor.
L-Jay Gonzales chipped in 14 points as a total of nine players scored at least three points for the Road Warriors, who improved to 3-1 and have created a three-way tie with Terrafirma and Phoenix at the second spot of the standings.
(C) PBA Images
Three others, on the other hand, scored in double figures for the Barangay, with Abarrientos and Japeth Aguilar finishing with 14 points apiece.
Troy Rosario made 11 points while Stephen Holt added 10 points in the collapse, in which they lost hold of a lead as big as 13, 41-28, early.
As tough as the loss was, Ginebra now has its attention on Sunday’s game, where it will take on Converge in its first meeting since the Season 50 Philippine Cup quarterfinals, to be played under the Big Dome lights as well.
The Scores:
NLEX 118 – Bolick 32, Lalanne 28, Winston 21, Gonzales 14, Bahio 6, Semerad 6, Alas 5, Rodger 3, Racal 3, Ramirez 0, Fajardo 0, Torres 0, Herndon 0.
Ginebra 113 – Brownlee 46, Abarrientos 14, Aguilar 14, Rosario 11, Holt 10, Thompson 7, Gray 5, Cu 3, Go 3, Pinto 0, Torres 0.
Quarterscores: 30-18, 59-54, 87-82, 118-113.
