NLEX hurdles roadblock

MANILA, Philippines — Even in the midst of their four-game skid, the NLEX Road Warriors knew that a trip to the PBA Governors’ Cup crossover quarterfinals is very much within reach.

But they had to make their move now.

And with this as driving force, the Road Warriors put together a pivotal 104-79 romp over also-ran Phoenix to grab solo fourth in Group B at 4-5 last night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

The bounceback job put coach Jong Uichico’s charges ahead of Blackwater (3-5) in their side race for the fourth and last ticket to the next round alongside early qualifiers Rain or Shine (7-2), San Miguel Beer (6-3) and Barangay Ginebra (6-3).

“Alam namin kung gaano ka-importante ang game na ito para sa amin, pero hindi naman automatic na papasok na kami, siyempre depende rin sa Blackwater ‘yan. But the players understand what’s at stake,” said Uichico.

NLEX enjoys the edge in quotient tiebreaker versus the Bossing and will still advance in case they end up with identical win-loss cards after the 10-game pool play.

But Blackwater can steal the quarters seat if they sweep their last two games against SMB today and ROS on Monday and finish with 5-5, and the Road Warriors lose to Ginebra on Sunday and end up with an inferior 4-6 record.

“It (win) puts pressure on Blackwater but alam naman natin that Blackwater is capable. Ang ganda ang lineup nila so they’re capable of winning those two games. Hindi naman namin dini-discount ‘yung fact na they have a shot at getting to the quarterfinals if they win those two games. Kami naman, nanalo kami. We did our job today. We’ll try to do our job on Sunday,” said Uichico.

The Road Warriors lay the foundation for the crucial W with a 14-0 closing barrage in the opening period. From an initial 13 points, they stretched their lead to a high of 21 in the second, 31 in the third and 33 in the fourth before settling for a final winning margin of 25.

DeQuan Jones scattered 27 points with seven rebounds while Robert Bolick shot 19 plus nine assists in spearheading NLEX.