NLEX halted a three-game slide with an easy 104-84 win over the hapless Blackwater in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup on Friday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
Ageless Asi Taulava delivered another impressive performance for the Road Warriors with 24 points, 10 rebounds and five assists as NLEX improved its standing to 3-4. The 41-year-old center shot 8-of-11 from the field and 8-of-11 from the fee throw line in 30 minutes of play.
“We came back from a three-game losing streak. We worked hard on our execution both on offense and defense,” said Road Warriors Head Coach Boyet Fernandez, who also drew 21 markers from Mark Cardona.
“It’s a long way to go for us. Tough games ahead for us. If we continue what we’re doing in practice, we’ll be fine,” he added.
Jonas Villanueva (17), Aldrech Ramos (16) and Mark Borboran (10) also hit double figures for NLEX, which needed a 21-8 run to end the first half with a 58-41 cushion.
Since then, the Road Warriors were never seriously threatened by the erratic Elite five, which remained winless after eight games in the tournament.
Ogie Menor led Blackwater with 15 points while Rob Celiz and Bambam Gamalinda contributed 11 and 10 markers respectively for Blackwater, which simply had no answer on Taulava.
Taulava unloaded most of his production in the third period as NLEX widened its lead to 23 points, 85-62, entering the final canto.
“Hopefully, we continue to improve as a team,” said Fernandez, whose next two assignments are Rain or Shine and league-leader Alaska.