ROBERT Bolick and his NLEX teammates try to sustain their romp, hoping to stay right behind tournament leader Magnolia in taking on Barangay Ginebra in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium Wednesday.
The Road Warriors dropped their opening game against the San Miguel Beermen (89-98) but have since hit their stride, and will ride the momentum of a three-game run as they play the Gin Kings at 7:30 p.m.
Bolick and Co. nailed a first win over the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (109-95), followed it up with a 91-74 disposal of the TNT Tropang 5G then stretched their run with an 80-72 dispatching of the Blackwater Bossing.
Their aim now is to stand their ground against the Gin Kings as they take a shot at a fourth "W" and keep their position as the closest pursuer to the pacesetting Magnolia Hotshots (5-0).
They're out to build up momentum some more especially as they battle the Hotshots next on May 11 then the reigning champs Meralco Bolts on May 16.
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"Mabigat yung tatlong games namin, at dito kami masusubukan talaga," said Bolick.
With a short breather from a deep run in the Commissioner's Cup, the Gin Kings struggled badly in their first two games in the All-Filipino but were back in their elements in their 131-106 rout of the NorthPort Batang Pier the last time out.
"We did come out with a good focus. That's what we're trying to do. Obviously were not able to do that versus San Miguel," said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.
"It's been a tough conference for us so far, just having less preparation time (between conferences)," Cone also said. "We wanted to give the guys a mental and physical break when they came back from the finals and extend that as much as we could without walking in and playing. So we did everything to try to get ready. It was kind of like in a 'hurry-up motion' and so it's a struggle for us mentally. But we snapped out of it a little bit in our last game."
And so the Kings are also on a high going to the NLEX match, pumped up by their 25-point rout of the Batang Pier.
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The Ginebra gunners banged away eight three-pointers just in the opening quarter and finished with a total of 17 out of 32 tries in that game.
RJ Abarrientos top scored with 27 points, counting six triples, while newly reactivated Jayson David pumped in 25 including a perfect 4-of-4 clip from the arc as the Kings rebounded from a 93-104 loss to the Beermen and improved to 2-1 in the season-ending tourney. (SB)
