NLEX summits at 10-2

MANILA, Philippines — NLEX collared the No. 1 seed in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals but Titan Ultra made the Road Warriors bleed for it.

Robert Bolick dished out a triple-double while Cady Lalanne registered a 20-20 as they sparked the leaders’ second-half fightback and closing barrage en route to a 123-112 overtime victory last night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Bolick delivered 25 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, dropping 18 in the third to get NLEX back after trailing by 14 in the first half, and joined Lallane and Schonny Winston in towing the team to the finish line with a 16-5 bomb in the extra time.

Lallane chalked up 29-20 while Winston shot 24 in helping the Road Warriors escape the ambush and end the elims with a league-best 10-2.

The Road Warriors have now won their last five outings to build momentum ahead of the quarters, where they would look to maximize their win-once advantage against the No. 8 squad to move forward.

The Giant Risers fell to their sixth straight defeat for 2-9 overall.

NLEX’ starters were forced to play extended minutes in this no-bearing match after Titan threatened to blow them out early on.

“Hindi naging maganda ang takbo ng laro, so the starting five ended up playing a lot of minutes, in the mid to high 30s. Syempre we wanted to come out with a win so we had to play them longer in the second half,” said coach Jong Uichico.

Bolick and Co. came out of the halftime break with renewed purpose and fire, unleashing a 36-23 blast to wrest the driver’s seat, 86-82.

It went down to the wire from there and after blowing a 107-104 cushion in a wild ending in regulation, the Road Warriors stamped their class on their also-ran rivals in OT.