Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Three games ago the Meralco Bolts were unbeaten, but now they have dropped two consecutive assignments.
A strong second half was enough for the NLEX Road Warriors as they got past the Bolts, 104-99, in the Commissioner’s Cup of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) on Friday (March 11) at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Thornton paced the Road Warriors with 38 points and 12 rebounds.
Two and a half minutes into the third period, the Bolts looked firmly in the driver’s seat with a 62-50 lead.
That was before Thornton took over the game.
Thornton swished in 20 markers in the third quarter alone as the Road Warriors outscored the Bolts 31-22 to take an 81-79 advantage into the final period.
NLEX led by as much as 13 before Meralco trimmed the deficit to 102-99 with 25 ticks left to play.
But it was too little, too late for the Bolts as they absorbed their second defeat of the conference.
With the victory under their belt, NLEX coach Boyet Fernandez hopes they use the momentum from the game ahead of their clash with another tough team.
“Meralco was prepared for us, but I’m happy that we got this win and get back to the winning column,” said Fernandez. “I am hoping that this will be a good start for us looking ahead against TNT on Sunday.”
Arinze Onuaku led the Bolts with 16 markers, while Baser Amer and Jared Dillinger contributed 14 apiece.
NLEX improved to a 3-3 record, while Meralco slid to a 5-2 win-loss card.
