MANILA, Philippines -- Usually struggling in the third quarter, the NLEX Road Warriors flipped the script and ran away with a massive 115-93 victory over the Converge FiberXers in their PBA Philippine Cup clash on Saturday.
In the previous three games, the Road Warriors’ Achilles heel in the PBA Philippine Cup has been the third quarter.
They have failed to score 20 points in the third canto in their win against NorthPort, their loss against Terrafirma and their win against Meralco.
Against the Batang Pier, they scored 19. Against the Dyip and the Bolts, they had 16 and 13, respectively.
But against the FiberXers, the squad scored 30 points in the frame, turning a close 54-52 lead to an 84-71 advantage.
“At the half, I was telling them that we were up by only two points. And I told them that we cannot let this team hang around. We have to make a good run, might as well do it in the third,” NLEX head coach Frankie Lim told reporters after the win.
“And good executions and guys coming off the bench like [Robbie] Herndon did as well. And, thankfully, it worked,” he added.
The Road Warriors outscored the FiberXers, 61-41, in the second half to send the latter to their fourth straight loss in the All-Filipino conference.
But the guy that did the heavy lifting in the second half was career-high man Robert Bolick.
Bolick scored 28 of his 46 in the final two periods to tow NLEX to their second straight win.
“I’m just happy for my players especially this guy, has a new career high. Played very well on pick and rolls,” Lim said.
The coach added that he just wanted the spitfire guard to score, and for their defense to suffocate the offense.
“We needed to break the game wide open. I told them at halftime, we cannot let Converge inch close because they’re dangerous, especially in the endgame,” he said.
“What was important was the third quarter. So… good defense on our part to limit the team, so that was crucial.”
NLEX will face the red-hot Blackwater Bossing next on Wednesday, 4:30 p.m., at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.