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Blackwater stuns Meralco behind Lastimosa’s game winner
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Blackwater has got its endgame collapse mode on “Off” this time.
That was pretty obvious after the Elite showed uncanny poise down the stretch to fashion a 92-90 victory over favored Meralco Wednesday and crash the win-column in the 2016 Smart Bro-PBA Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Carlo Lastimosa’s runner he kissed off-the-glass enabled Blackwater to avoid the ignominy of blowing an 18-point lead and, according to coach Leo Isaac, will hopefully set the tone for the team in what promises to be a very tough stretch ahead.
The Elite take on defending champion San Miguel Beer next before facing pre-tourney favorites Rain or Shine and Talk N Text.
“We can’t look beyond our next game,” said Isaac. “Basta kami, one game at a time lang ang focus.”
There’s just enough time to savor the win, which is only the first in three games for Blackwater in the season-opening conference and fifth in its first 36 games overall in the pros.
“Masarap,” said Isaac. “This is our first win in the all-Filipino. Last year zero kami in 11 games.”
More important, the breakthrough came after losses in Blackwater’s first two games against NLEX and Alaska, when the Elite failed to find the winning line in the stretch.
It seemed a reprise of those losses was in the offing when Meralco came fighting back from the depths of a 31-48 deficit to even take an 87-84 lead, still 3:45 to go.
But Blackwater would not be denied as Reil Cervantes and Lastimosa took charge in the stretch, combining for all eight of the Elite’s points.
“It’s good to see that our players stepped up in today’s game, most especially Reil and Carlo,” noted Isaac.
The first overtime of the young season seemed imminent when Cliff Hodge hit a triple that knotted the count at 90, only 6.6 seconds to go.
Following a Blackwater timeout, Lastimosa received the inbound and drove right straight to the middle of lane before letting go with his looping shot that banked in, only 1.8 ticks left.
“It was actually a structured sideline throw-in, which has so many options,” was how Isaac explained their final offensive thrust.
“It was Carlo who really took charge,” added Isaac. “Knowing Carlo he’s been doing that since college days. When he took that shot sa tingin ko shoot, from the release point to the glass. He really had the presence of mind to take charge.”
Without any timeout left, Meralco had no choice but to opt for a prayer of a shot which Ronjay Buenafe delivered, but fell way short just as time expired.
The loss was the second in as many games for the Bolts, notwithstanding he gamehigh 23 points by Gary David and Hodge’s 13 points and 14 rebounds.
John Paul Erram notched 14 points before fouling out with still 4:35 left, while Cervantes, Mike Cortez, Riego Gamalinda and James Sena 12 each. Lastimosa, acquired from Barako Bull in an off-season trade for Brian Heruela, wound up with 11.
Chris Newsome, who had 14 points in Meralco’s 85-101 loss to SMB last week, scored seven points before getting ejected following a flagrant foul-penalty 2 infraction he incurred after getting caught elbowing fellow rookie Keith Agovida in a drive, still2:20 left in the second period.
That did little to dampen the Bolts’ collective spirit as David and Jared Dillinger led a sustained fightback that trimmed what stood as a 33-48 halftime deficit to just six going to the final canto. (NC)
The Scores:
BLACKWATER 92 – Erram 14, Cervantes 12, Cortez 12, Gamalinda 12, Sena 12, Lastimosa 11, Agovida 9, Canada 3, Reyes 3, Ballesteros 2, Dela Cruz 2, Vosotros 0.
MERALCO 90 – David 23, Dillinger 15, Hodge 13, Al-Hussaini 10, Alapag 7, Guevarra 7, Newsome 7, Hugnatan 4, Buenafe 2, Caram 2, Amer 0, Faundo 0, Nabong 0.
Quarters: 26-16, 48-33, 69-63, 92-90
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