Blackwater makes playoffs, boots out Mahindra

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The explosive game Blackwater expects from Mike Cortez finally came Sunday – and in the most opportune of times.

Cortez sizzled for a new career-high 30 points spiked by some crucial plays, leading the Elite to a 108-99 victory over Mahindra in their duel for the last quarterfinals slot of the 2016 Smart Bro-PBA Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena.

After the well-traveled 35-year-old joined an elite club earlier in the game, he also wound up with 10 rebounds and almost single-handedly kept the Enforcers at bay in the stretch by displaying the coolness under pressure he became known for even while with De La Salle.

The playmaker acquired from Meralco before the season, however, would not hog all the limelight after leading Blackwater to its third win in 11 games that sealed its eliminations finish at 10^th and the right to meet third-ranked Rain or Shine in the first stage of the quarterfinals that start on Christmas.

“I’ve got to give it to my teammates,” said Cortez, Alaska’s No. 1 pick overall in the 2003 draft, whose second triple of the game at the 7:48 mark of the third period made him just the 34^th player in PBA history to make 500 three-point shots.

“This has been a tough conference for us. There were a lot of games where we came up short, but we stuck together and it finally worked out for us.”

For Blackwater coach Leo Isaac, getting past the eliminations after three last place finishes in the team’s maiden season last year is “exciting,” but his charges’ sights must be aimed at a far higher goal.

“We must continue to compete, improve and hopefully get better results as we go along. This is one good result, but hopefully we can further improve on our game,” said Isaac.

“We’re excited about this and I am happy for management as we go into our second year from a ragtag team to one now competing with high caliber teams,” added Isaac. “For the whole team going into the playoffs malaking bagay ‘yun.”

On facing Rain or Shine, which should be bristling after losing a 106-111 decision to NLEX last Saturday, Isaac has few words to say.

The Elite have yet to win over the Elasto Painters in a total four meetings, losing those games by an average of 17.5 points. But that is one concern Isaac would not crowd his mind with at the moment.

“We’ll do our very best (against Rain or Shine). Sigurado ko mainit ulo ng mga ‘yun. Hopefully, we can compete with them.”

The loss relegated Mahindra to a 2-9 slate and an 11^th place finish as it joined Meralco to an early vacation.

Reil Cervantes came off the bench to add 24 points for Blackwater, which also drew 16 points from Bambam Gamalinda and 14 from Carlo Lastimosa.

Aldrech Ramos notched his third double-double of the conference with 22 points and 10 rebounds and joined LA Revilla and Karl Dehesa in bringing the Enforcers back from a 20-point deficit early in the fourth to within 97-102, still 66 seconds left.

Revilla even capped a 15-point game with a short stab that made it a 99-104 game and harassed Cortez into committing a five-second inbounding violation. But he missed a three-point try in the ensuing play and his foul sent Cortez to the stripe for two freebies.

After Dehesa muffed his own triple try, Cortez all but sealed the game with two more charities.

Mike Digregorio finished with 20 points for Mahindra, which found itself in a deep hole through two bad middle quarters in which it scored only a total 35 points.

In contrast, Blackwater had a more balanced attack behind Cortez and Reil Cervantes as it turned a 51-42 halftime lead into a more imposing 80-61, entering the final canto.

Cervantes, who scattered 17 of his points in the second half, also boomed in what would prove to be the third of his six treys for the game to make it an 86-66 game, still 10:37 to go.

But Dehesa countered with his own triple and Mahindra’s fightback steadily gained steam when Ramos, DiGregorio and Revilla joined in.

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TAGS: 2016 Philippine Cup, Blackwater Elite, Mahindra Enforcers, Mike Cortez, pba, playoffs, quarterfinals, Reil Cervantes

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