NLEX was playing like a well-oiled engine machine for the fourth straight time with guards Robert Bolick, Schonny Winston, and import DeQuan Jones outperforming their San Miguel Beer counterpart the rest of the way.
The Road Warriors, riding on Robert Bolick’s near triple-double performance, blasted the Beermen, 110-96, on Sunday to stay unbeaten after four games under rookie coach Jimmy Alapag in Season 50 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
Bolick scattered 14 points, dished out 12 assists, and grabbed nine rebounds for the Road Warriors, who closed out halftime with a comfortable 64-46 lead to control the game even from the start up to the entire second half.
Jones delivered 27 points and collected 10 rebounds plus two blocks, while Schonny Winston delivered 24 points, four rebounds, four assists, and three steals, and Anthony Semerad posted 15 points – all from the three-point zone.
‘Our coach really wanted to emphasize to have more energy, and that is our goal today and we did it impressively in the first quarter bringing energy,’ Winston said.
Rob Herndon contributed 13 points also for NLEX.
San Miguel Beer was in striking distance, 92-84, with 7:31 left in the last period, but NLEX responded with a 7-0 run highlighted by Bolick’s four-point shot and Herndon’s trey that gave them a 99-84 advantage down to the last 6:23.
NLEX turned invincible from thereon.
‘Anytime you play San Miguel Beer with their championship experience, it is always a great test for a young team but I though we were very resilient in the second half, and we were able to get stops through our young guys and score when we needed to,’ NLEX coach Jimmy Alapag said.
‘Schonny and Robert’s aggressiveness set the tone early for the team,’ he added.
Import George King Jr. had 31 points and eight rebounds but tallied nine of SMB’s 18 turnovers while Don Trollano and nine-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo made 16 points and 15 points, respectively, for the Beermen who dropped to 3-1 win-loss card.
NLEX, which only had 13 turnovers, shot 13 triples against six of SMB