JB Bahio of Nlex Road Warriors during a PBA Philippine Cup match against TNT Tropang 5G. –PBA Image
The NLEX ruined TNT’s 2025 PBA Philippine Cup debut for a grand slam with a 91-74 victory at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday.
The Road Warriors improved to 2-1, winning back-to-back wins behind rookies Xyrus Torres and another good show from JB Bahio, giving Tropang 5G a rough start to the quest to complete the unusual triple crown.
Torres scored 13, while Bahio scored the same amount of points with 12 rebounds and 4 assists.
Both Torres and Bahio allowed them to stop the pressure from mainman Robert Borik.
Borik went 18-4 from the field despite scoring 13 points, but added eight rebounds, six assists and four steals to the NLEX.
Nlex led the highest amount of 22 and was not threatened by the TNT side, who was removed for 25 days from beating Barangay Ginebra in the decision of the committee’s Cup finals to win the second straight championship.
TNT reduced its margin to six in the third quarter. After that, NLEX was newly pulled away.
RR Pogoy and Kelly Williams were the only Tropang 5G players with double digits of 12 and 11 points respectively.
Ray Nanbatuck, the most valuable player in the Commissioner’s Cup final, added nine points and three rebounds, while Simon Enciso scored nine points above six rebounds and two assists in his TNT debut.
TNT hopes to bounce back on Sunday, when it takes over the convergence at Inares Centre in Antipolo.
Meanwhile, NLEX will take a nine-day break and return to action against Blackwater with its first doubleheader at Rizal’s Montalvan, where the new Inares Centre was built on May 2nd.
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