PBA: Bolick, Gonzales lift NLEX past TNT in OT sans injured Jones

MANILA, August 12 ------ DeQuan Jones might have exited with a freak right leg injury, but the NLEX Road Warriors overcame TNT Tropang 5G in overtime, 118-111, in their PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup clash at Ynares Center-Antipolo.

Robert Bolick shone with 27 points, eight assists, five rebounds, two steals, and two blocks, while Ljay Gonzales fired a career-high 26 points with six rebounds as NLEX tallied its seventh win in eight games. “Nag-tiwala lang sa amin si Coach Jimmy [Alapag], at dine-dedicate namin ‘to kay DJ,” said Gonzales, as the Road Warriors avoided a 14-point collapse following Jones’ injury.

Jones still managed to finish with 23 points, four rebounds, and a block despite exiting with 7:27 left in the third period after suffering what was deemed a fractured right leg. “I told them when DJ went down, the best thing that we could do to honor what he means to this team is to fight for the rest of the game,” said Alapag.

And that was exactly what Bolick, Gonzales, and the rest of the Road Warriors did.

With NLEX trailing by five, 99-104, in the final 30 seconds of regulation, the former San Beda University star drained a four-pointer to cut the deficit to one. Roger Pogoy then completed an and-one play on the other end as TNT looked to shut the door on NLEX, but Bolick still had another one up his sleeve, making a fallaway four-pointer to send the game to overtime.

Gonzales then took charge in OT, firing six of his total points, while Anthony Semerad was just as crucial, hitting the go-ahead triple for a 112-109 lead before adding a deuce in the final seconds to preserve the win. On the other hand, the Tropang 5G were poised to steal the victory, with Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser barely missing what could have been the game-winning deuce at the buzzer in regulation.

Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson led TNT with 30 points, 13 rebounds, and two assists, but these were not enough as the Tropang 5G fell to their fourth loss in eight games in Group A. Rey Nambatac added 28 points on five three-pointers before fouling out, while Pogoy and Ganuelas-Rosser each scored 15.

The Scores (OT):

NLEX 118 – Bolick 27, Gonzales 26, Jones 23, Winston 11, Bahio 11, Semerad 8, Alas 5, Gamboa 3, Valdez 2, Racal 2, Torres 0, Nelle 0.

TNT 111 – Hollis-Jefferson 30, Nambatac 28, Heading 17, Ganuelas-Rosser 15, Pogoy 15, Aurin 5, Ferrer 1, Khobuntin 0, Quitev is 0, Varilla 0, Erram 0, Galinato 0, Jalalon 0.

Quarterscores: 31-22, 60-53, 85-79, 107-107, 118-111.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com