ROBERT Bolick had the last say versus Arvin Tolentino in a fiery shootout as NLEX outfought NorthPort in an overtime battle and hacked out a 107-100 win in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Friday.
Bolick fired a game-high 31 points, including three charities in a 7-0 closing run that carried the Road Warriors to a triumphant debut in the season-ending tourney.
Enoch Valdez contributed 16 points while Sean Anthony and Anthony Semerad chipped in 15 apiece as the Road Warriors outlasted the NorthPort side banking heavily on Tolentino's 29-point explosion he also laced with seven rebounds and the same number of assists.
Then there were Allyn Bulanadi with 19 points and the debuting Zavi Lucero (13 and eight) and William Navarro (12 and 13) with their good stats line.
But there's no stopping Bolick from getting NLEX to a victorious conference start after a poor ninth-place finish in the recent Commissioner's Cup.
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Bolick was his usual prolific self curiously against his former team before a brief stint in the Japan B. League.
The former San Beda King Lion was 9-of-22 from the field and 10-of-13 from the stripe and also came through with five rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block against two turnovers in 42 minutes of action.
Tolentino, the scoring king last conference, had his own hot night with 8-of-19 field clip and 10-of-11 foul shooting.
But Tolentino and the rest of his teammates were held scoreless by the Road Warriors in the last two minutes and 44 seconds of the game.
The Batang Pier failed to buy a basket again after Lucero scored from close range to tie the count at 100-all.
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Lucero, a rookie from the University of the Philippines, made good impression in his pro debut going 5-of-11 from the field and grabbing three offensive boards and five defensive caroms in his first outing coming from an injury.
He's expected to be a fixture in coach Boni Tan's rotation. (SB)
The Scores :
NLEX 107 - Bolick 31, Valdez 16, Anthony 15, Semerad 15, Pascual 9, Ular 6, Nieto 5, Marcelo 4, Miranda 3, Amer 2, Nermal 0.
NORTHPORT 100 - Tolentino 29, Bulanadi 19, Lucero 13, Navarro 12, Munzon 8, Zamar 6, Calma 4, Flores 4, Rosales 2, Chan 2, Paraiso 1, Cuntapay 0, Yu 0.
QUARTERS: 29-25, 55-50, 74-72, 98-98, 107-100 (OT).
