Road Warriors run over Hotshots for 4th straight win

MANILA, Philippines – The NLEX Road Warriors showed no rust whatsoever and obliterated the hapless Magnolia Hotshots, 87-74, in a wire-to-wire affair to nail their fourth consecutive victory in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila on Saturday. 

Robert Bolick and Anthony Semerad teamed up for the Road Warriors in the dominating win, finishing with 26 and 22 points, respectively. The former had nine assists, while the latter had 10 rebounds.

In their first game since March 13, NLEX looked like a well-oiled machine both on offense and defense right from the get-go, leading by as much as 16 points, 26-10, in the first quarter with a 3-pointer by Matt Nieto. 

With the hot start, they did not let up and led by as much as 24, 71-47, in the fourth quarter with a layup by Jake Pascual. 

Magnolia tried to claw back, cutting the lead to 15, 62-77, with 5:05 remaining thanks to a 3-pointer by Mark Barroca. 

On the other end, Baser Amer punched in the dagger trey, 80-62, with 4:39 remaining. 

After the game, NLEX head coach Frankie Lim lauded his team's defense. 

"Our defense did well against their small guys. Maybe [Paul] Lee, Barroca and [Jio] Jalalon. I just felt that all the practices we had in the past week did us well tonight," Lim told reporters. 

"The depleted lineup of Magnolia is also a big thing... Offensively and defensively, they stuck to the game plan," he added. 

Robbie Herndon chipped in nine points and eight boards for the Road Warriors. 

Ian Sangalang and Russel Escoto led Magnolia with 13 points apiece off the bench. 

One of the key cogs of the team, Paul Lee, struggled mightily in the game, finishing with just five points off of 1-of-11 shooting. 

The defense of NLEX led the Hotshots to make just 24 of their 69 field goal attempts, good for just 34% shooting. 

The Hotshots, who played without the suspended Calvin Abueva and the injured Aris Dionisio, also made just seven of their 26 3-point attempts. 

NLEX rose to 5-1 in the season, good for solo second. Magnolia dropped to 1-2.