DEFENDING CHAMPS BEAT BLACKWATER TO MOVE UP TO 0.500
Purefoods Star notched its first back-to-back wins and moved to 0.500 for the first time in the 2014-2015 PBA Philippine Cup at the expense of Blackwater, 90-82, Tuesday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Peter June Simon led the Hotshots with his 18 points, 10 coming in the third period, dousing cold water on an Elite rampage in the said period.
After the Elite held a 15-point lead, 44-29, in the second canto, Blackwater trimmed the lead down to just one, 53-52, behind Alex Nuyles and Bryan Faundo, but Purefoods answered back with an 8-0 blast to gain a 61-52 lead and kept their distance the rest of the way.
Joe Devance chimed in 16 points, while Allein Maliksi added 11 markers, seven of which came in the payoff period.
“It certainly wasn’t a scintillating performance on our part. We didn’t play a lot well,” said Purefoods head coach Tim Cone, whose wards improve to an even 3-3 after the win.
“We have to give coach Leo (Isaac) and his guys credit. There were a couple times that I felt we could’ve maybe stretched the lead and blow it wide open, but they came back every time. They defended well, they missed some shots which could’ve gotten them over the hump. It could’ve been closer than how it was,” he said.
“The bottomline is we just got to go through this game and move forward. I wish we played a little better, but the thing is all we got to do is to win by one point. Anything else is just pogi points,” Cone added.
Bryan Faundo got a double-double in the tune of his 14 points and 10 boards, while Sunday Salvacion added 14 for the Elite who fell deeper down the cellar with its 0-7 slate. (RL)
The scores:
PUREFOODS 90 – Simon 18, Devance 16, Maliksi 11, Melton 8, Mallari 8, Pingris 7, Taha 6, Barroca 6, Yap 6, Holstein 3, Reavis 1, Gaco 0, Matias 0, Allado 0.
BLACKWATER 82 – Faundo 14, Salvacion 14, Nuyles 12, Artadi 12, Ballesteros 8, Gamalinda 6, Heruela 5, Erram 4, Laure 4, Tiongson 3, Menor 0, Rodriguez 0, Timberlake 0, Celiz 0.
Quarterscores: 26-21, 46-39, 67-58, 90-82
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