Bolick show continues

MANILA, Philippines — It wasn’t as explosive as his 46-point outburst last time, but just the same, Robert Bolick put his stamp on NLEX’ drive to a third straight victory.

Bolick gunned down two dagger triples in the last 45 seconds as the Road Warriors stayed on the winning path while ending the dream start of Blackwater via a 103-97 verdict yesterday in the PBA Philippine Cup at the PhilSports Arena.

The result propelled NLEX to solo second at 4-1 behind unbeaten Ginebra (2-0) as the Bossing fell to share of third with NorthPort at 3-1 after seeing their streak and rare hold of pole position come to halt.

Four days after his career-high outing, Bolick produced a near triple-double line of 21 points, nine rebounds and nine assists to banner a well-distributed scoring parade for the Road Warriors.

Rookie Jhan Nermal and Dominic Fajardo shot 16 and 14, respectively, to back up their top gunner even as Rob Herndon (14), Baser Amer (12) and Tony Semerad (11) gave significant offensive contributions.

“Total team effort. Ang sarap ng feeling nung lahat kami may contribution sa panalo nagtutulungan talaga kami,” said Bolick, deflecting credit after NLEX posted the big win while coach Frankie Lim stayed at home nursing a painful injured finger.

“What’s good about Robert is he produces a lot of points but if you take a look at his assists, magaling din siya pumasa. Ninety percent of the time ang bola namin na kay Berto and most of the time, good decisions ang ginagawa niya,” said assistant coach Borgie Hermida, representing the head coach for the game – Jong Uichico – in the presscon.

After yielding the floor to the likes of Nermal and Fajardo, Bolick took charge in winning time. He scored only six in the tight fourth but they came in the form of a pair of pivotal long bombs, the first giving NLEX a 100-94 cushion and the second securing a 103-97 spread.