The Blackwater Elite managed to stay composed even after losing a good lead in the fourth, and downed TNT KaTropa in overtime, 104-98, to start their 2018 Governors’ campaign on a high note, Friday evening at Mall of Asia Arena.
The Elite have brought the Texters down to 1-2, and they also spoiled the debut of TNT’s new import Stacy Davis, who replaced Mike Glover. Davis had 23 points on 9-of-26 shooting and 16 rebounds against six errors.
“Thank God. The story, we played defense. Makikita natin, mababa ang score kanina. I told them na pabor sa’min ‘tong game na ‘to ’cause we’re playing good defense,” said an emotional Blackwater head coach Bong Ramos.
“Sinong ‘di maiiyak? Ang haba ng talo namin last conference. Ang sarap manalo,” pointed out the veteran bench strategist, while still in tears. “Itong luha na ‘to, happiness ‘to eh. Binless kami ng Diyos… Salamat.”
Allein Maliksi top-billed for the Elite with a season-high 28 points and nine rebounds. Henry Walker had 23 points and 14 rebounds. Rabeh Al-Hussaini supplied 13 points and 10 boards, and John Pinto chipped in 12.
Blackwater had a meltdown already late in the fourth quarter, when their 80-73 lead with 4:40 remaining became an 82-86 deficit with 1:39 left in the game, no thanks to the 12-3 scoring blitz put out by TNT.
But the Elite managed to stop the bleeding when Mike DiGregorio sank a mid-range jumper. Walker then followed it up with a breakaway dunk off a Terrence Romeo turnover to tie the game at 86 with just 38 seconds left.
Jayson Castro tried to take matters into his own hands, but both of his jumpers inside the final 24.2 seconds missed their target. Walker also tried to win it for Blackwater, but his turnaround jumper with five-tenths of a second missed too.
Blackwater jumped into an early lead in overtime, and they never looked back. A John Pinto-led 11-3 run gave them a 97-89 cushion, and Maliksi’s fade-away jumper with 49 ticks left proved to be the finishing touch to the win.
Romeo led the KaTropa with 24 points on 8-of-18 shooting. Castro produced 20 points on 6-of-17 field goal shooting along with six rebounds and three dimes.
Blackwater will next face the San Miguel Beermen on September 5, Wednesday, while TNT will look to get back on track versus the Alaska Aces on Sunday, August 26. Both games are set at 4:30 PM at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The Scores:
Blackwater 104 – Maliksi 28, Walker 23, Al-Hussaini 13, Pinto 12, Digregorio 8, Belo 6, Cortez 5, Jose 5, Zamar 2, Javier 2, Banal 0, Sena 0, Palma 0.
TNT 98 – Romeo 24, Davis 23, Castro 20, Pogoy 11, Garcia 5, Semerad 4, Golla 3, Carey 2, Rosario 2, Williams 2, Cruz 2.
Quarterscores: 21-18, 38-38, 62-63, 86-86, 104-98
