By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The NLEX Road Warriors maintained its fiery campaign in the ongoing PBA Philippine Cup after trouncing the Magnolia Hotshots Chicken Timplados, 87-74, on April 6, 2024, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
With the huge win, the Road Warriors just clinched its fourth straight victory in the Philippine Cup and are now sitting at the no. 2 spot of the standings with a 5-1 win-loss record.
NLEX quickly sucked the life out of the Chicken Timplados after jumping to a sizable 26-10 advantage in the opening 12 minutes of the game.
Playing without superstar small forward Calvin Abueva, Magnolia just struggled on the defensive end and was getting outplayed by NLEX’s well-executed offensive plays.
Despite getting a little lift from power forward Richard Escoto, the Chicken Timplados still had difficulty in covering their perimeter areas, allowing the Road Warriors to keep piling up the points for the rest of the game.
Robert Bolick replicated his scoring prowess and led the Road Warriors with a near double-double performance of 26 points and nine assists.
It was Bolick who drew first blood for NLEX during that 26-10 run in the first quarter that helped the squad take the early momentum in the game.
After that favorable sequence for the Road Warriors, NLEX just continued to ramp up the intensity and left Magnolia behind in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter.
Tony Semerad also gave the Road Warriors a solid contribution after backstopping Bolick with 22 points built from an efficient 5/9 shooting from the three-point line.
On the other hand, the Chicken Timplados got a 26-point combined effort from Escoto and Ian Sangalang while Mark Barroca added 10 points.
