NLEX held Blackwater to a record-low two points in the first quarter on the way to a convincing 98-68 victory in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup at the Ynares Center.

Don Trollano finished with 16 points, three rebounds, and three assists while Calvin Oftana added 15 points, eight rebounds and two assists for the Road Warriors, whjo snapped a three-game losing skid.

More importantly, the Yeng Guiao-mentored Road Warriors boosted their chances of advancing to the eight-team quarterfinals with an even 5-5 win-loss record.

Guiao said defense made the big difference.

“‘Yung depensa namin ang talagang nagdala sa amin today,” said Guiao in an interview posted at the official PBA website.

“I keep telling the team, ‘Pag’ka maganda depensa natin sumusunod ‘yung opensa natin.’ Exactly the story of the game. We played good defense and the offense followed.”

The Bossing managed to score only two points courtesy of a basket by Yousef Taha in the first quarter.

In contrast, NLEX erupted for 31 points in the same period.

It was only the fourth time in league history that a team scored only two points in a quarter, with the most recent one happening in a game between Northport and Rain or Shine two years ago.

The Bossing suffered their third straight setback after a hot 5-1 start and saw their hopes of grabbing one of the top two spots and the twice-to-beat advantage go down the drain.

Later, Magnolia outlasted Meralco, 97-88, in overtime to formalize its entry to the playoffs.

Paul Lee, Mark Barroca and Jio Jalalon combined for 60 points for the Hotshots, who extended their winning streak to five games and assured thenselves of quarterfinals seat with a 6-3 win-loss record.

The scores:

First game

NLEX (98) – Trollano 16, Oftana 15, Quinahan 12, Chua 11, Rosales 10, Soyud 6, Semerad 6, Nieto 6, Varilla 5, Ighalo 4, Paniamogan 4, Fonacier 3, Magat 0.
Blackwater (68) – Taha 9, Ular 8, Amer 8, McCarthy 6, Casio 6, Dyke 6, Ebona 6, Publico 5, Melton 3, Sena 3, Ganuelas-Rosser 3, Escoto 3, Torralba 2, Ayonayon 0.
Quarterscores: 31-02, 56-26, 78-40, 98-68.

Second game

Magnolia (97) — Lee 21, Barroca 20, Jalalon 19, Sangalang 12, Dionisio 10, Abueva 7, Laput 3, Reavis 3, Wong 2, Corpuz 0,
Meralco (88) — Newsome 24, Black 13, Quinto 13, Jose 9, Hodge 9, Almazan 8, Maliksi 4, Banchero 3, Pascual 3, Baclao 2, Caram 0.
Quarterscores: 20-22, 45-37, 63-60, 86-86, 97-88.