NLEX routs streaking Blackwater to rule Kadayawan cagefest
At A Glance
- NLEX doused a streaking Blackwater side with a 101-84 victory in the Finals to rule the Kadayawan Basketball Invitational at USEP Gym Sunday, Aug. 25.
NLEX doused a streaking Blackwater side with a 101-84 victory to rule the Kadayawan Basketball Invitational at USEP Gym Sunday, Aug. 25.
The Road Warriors made sure to not fall into the same traps of their preliminary meeting by putting up a big lead, but this time, not looking back to put a strong end to their pocket tournament that served as a fitting buildup before the opening of the PBA 50th Season.
In their first game, NLEX squandered a 17-point lead and absorbed a 95-90 defeat against the same opponent.
Xyrus Torres and Anthony Semerad played a key role in their victory this time, shooting from deep by draining four each. Torres led the way with 19 points while Semerad produced a double-double performance of 16 points and 12 rebounds. J
B Bahio also contributed a double-double effort of 12 points and 11 boards, while Dominick Fajardo chipped in 10 points.
NLEX also did that with star guard Robert Bolick having a relatively quiet night with eight points although he dished out nine assists.
Sedrick Barefield paced his team with 15 points while RK Ilagan added 10 points for Blackwater, which settled for a bridesmaid finish despite completing a sweep of the preliminaries.
Meanwhile, Phoenix also gifted new head coach Willie Wilson his first win after routing Converge, 101-80 to finish third and avoid a winless campaign.
The Fuel Masters, which lost all of their three preliminary games, found the perfect time to explode as Raffy Verano and Tyler Tio presided over their team's offensive assault.
Verano led Phoenix with 19 points and nine rebounds while Tio added 17 points and seven assists. Kai Ballungay also contributed 15 points as Sean Manganti chipped in 14 points.
Bryan Santos and King Caralipio had 12 apiece to lead the FiberXers, who wound up with a 1-2 record in the preliminaries but ended up at the fourth spot following the loss.