Blackwater went on a tear in the third quarter and never let up on its way to sending NorthPort skidding, 120-98, to break through in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup at the SMART Araneta Coliseum Friday evening.
After suffering blowout losses to Magnolia and Converge, it was the Bossing’s turn to hand a harsh beatdown this time, exploding for 40 big points in the said chapter before cruising toward their first win of the conference.
“Because we got our butts kicked in the first two games, we wanted to take advantage of the 12 days in between games,” said head coach Jeff Cariaso. “It wasn’t perfect in practice but the guys never stopped working hard.”
(C) PBA Images
A total of six players finished in double figures in the convincing triumph, with Sedrick Barefield showing the way with 20 points as he made up for his poor five-point showing on 1-of-10 shooting against the FiberXers.
Ditto with Christian David, who poured 19 points and six rebounds — that, after going scoreless on seven shots in that very same outing.
RK Ilagan supplied 17 points and eight assists while Richard Escoto, BJ Andrade, and Troy Mallilin all provided surprise contributions.
Escoto made 15 points and six rebounds. Andrade had 14, including a four-pointer before the third ended. Mallilin chipped in 10 markers.
“Ginawa lang namin kung ano ‘yung ginagawa namin sa practice,” said Ilagan. “Maganda ‘yung energy namin today, nag-start sa magandang pasahan.”
Blackwater (1-2) will look to continue its winning ways against Robert Bolick and the 2-1 NLEX next Friday, May 2, as they are among the teams gracing the newly opened Ynares Center II in Montalban, Rizal.
(C) PBA Images
Joshua Munzon, on the other hand, finished with 27 points while William Navarro nailed 24 to share the load in leading NorthPort in the loss.
That, as main man Arvin Tolentino only had 15 points on 6-of-17 shooting from the floor in a microcosm of how the team struggled — on both ends, actually.
The Batang Pier actually started well with a 10-2 spurt and was still in the thick of the fight entering the break until they got shredded on D by the Bossing, leading to that massive third-quarter barrage that set the tone for the rout.
Coach Bonnie Tan’s wards could not muster any sort of comeback that allowed their foes to breach the century mark, 101-75, at the 8:36-mark of the fourth.
Soon, they’d find themselves trailing by as many as 27 points thrice, the last at 109-82 approaching the game’s last six minutes as they eventually absorbed their second straight loss after bowing to Rain or Shine the last time out.
Definitely, they do not want to make three defeats in a row as they’re set to face Ginebra next on April 30, Wednesday, at the Philsports Arena.
The Scores:
Blackwater 120 – Barefield 20, David 19, Ilagan 17, Escoto 15, Andrade 14, Mallilin 10, Ayonayon 9, Guinto 7, Tungcab 5, Chua 2, Tratter 2, Casio 0.
NorthPort 98 – Munzon 27, Navarro 24, Tolentino 15, Bulanadi 12, Jalalon 7, Onwubere 6, Cuntapay 3, Flores 3, Yu 1, Nelle 0, Kwekuteye 0, Taha 0.
Quarterscores: 20-22, 48-47, 88-74, 120-98.
