PBA: With Bolick leading the way, NLEX escapes Meralco

NLEX Road Warriors’ Robert Bolick in the PBA Philippine Cup. –PBA IMAGES

MANILA, Philippines–NLEX played with steely nerves down the stretch to turn back hard-fighting Meralco, 99-96, in a tight contest in the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup Wednesday night.

The Road Warriors squandered a 12-point cushion and then cranked things up in the final minute behind ace Robert Bolick and Enoch Valdez to secure the victory that had the club rebounding from a sorry loss to Terrafirma last week.

“It’s a good thing we have Bolick. Imagine if he’s not here,” said head coach Frankie Lim who heaved a sigh of relief after the see-saw contest at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

SCHEDULE: 2024 PBA Philippine Cup

Bolick finished with 26 points, three points short of matching his first two outings to open the All-Filipino showcase. Valdez chipped in 12 more, including a key steal with 39 ticks remaining to give the Road Warriors some breathing room.

NLEX improved to 2-1 in the conference.

Meralco made a last-ditch effort to pull the rug from under its corporate sibling behind Allein Maliksi and Chris Newsome, pulling within 96-98 with 21 seconds left but ran out steam when it mattered most, thus dropping to 1-2 in the race.

READ: PBA: Robert Bolick thankful for teammates picking up his scoring slack

NLEX will try to get a streak going against Converge this Saturday.

The Bolts, meanwhile, seek a rebound when they take on 1-1 NorthPort on Sunday.