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NLEX sends Blackwater to PBA infamy to snap 3-game slide

Don Trollano led the Road Warriors' offense in a game where their defense dictated the outcome. PBA Images
By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA--From a team that seemed like finally finding its identity in the PBA, Blackwater was sent to a record they don't want to be in.

NLEX nearly shut Blackwater down in the first quarter and made it its catapult to score a 98-68 win in their PBA Philippine Cup match on Friday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

The Road Warriors started the game with a 9-0 run even as they held the Bossing scoreless for the first four minutes of the game.

Blackwater finally got on the board when Rashawn McCarthy found Yousef Taha underneath for the layup with 7:57 left in the first.

However, NLEX finished the period with a 22-0 run and only got to concede a point again at the 11:27 mark of the second quarter on a Baser Amer three.

While the Bossing got their offense going in the second quarter, they were held to only 14 points in the third as the Road Warriors finally got out of their slump.

Don Trollano put up 16 points, three rebounds, and three assists off the bench to lead NLEX, which snapped a three-game losing streak and moved up to 5-5.

Calvin Oftana added 15 points, eight rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block.

Taha was the leading scorer for Blackwater, but he was held to only nine points off the bench as the team is now on a three-game slide after a franchise record 5-1 start.

To make matters worst, the Ever Bilena franchise became the fourth team to only score two points in a single quarter in PBA history but only the second to be held to the said number of points in the first quarter after TNT, then Mobiline, was held to only two points by Sta. Lucia in a 2001 game in the said conference.

Follow him on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno

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