George King erupted for 64 points as Blackwater crushed Rain or Shine, 139-118, to salvage some sense of pride in closing out its PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup campaign on Monday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The explosive winger now owns the franchise record for most points in a game and hauled down 13 rebounds as well in 41 minutes of action in a performance fueled by the bad news they received about 24 hours prior to the match.
On Sunday night, the team bid goodbye to its quarterfinal hopes when NLEX completed the playoff picture by beating Ginebra in overtime.
“Mahirap siya because it was one of those things where I felt if given a chance, we would have showcased what kind of a team we are at this point,” lamented Bossing head coach Jeff Cariaso as the odds didn’t go in their favor.
“So, the second best (thing) was, regardless of having no chance, I just wanted to challenge them to perform tonight, respect the game, respect the blessings that we are playing. That’s what I shared with them,” he added.
That challenge definitely lit the fire within his charges, with the 30-year-old reinforcement himself leading by example as he manufactured 49 points in just the first half to steer his side to a 70-54 advantage entering the intermission.
King then continued his fine play in the last 24 minutes, before capping off his historic outing with a contested four with 25 seconds left to play to eventually finish with the most points by any player since Al Thornton had 69 in 2016.
“I don’t know if a lot of people can say they scored 64. A lot of guys who walked on the face of the earth can’t say they scored 64 in a professional basketball game,” he said. “All glory to God. I felt good the entire night.”
King produced that many points with much efficiency, too, as he shot 51.4-percent from the floor, highlighted by a trio of four-pointers. But the most impressive was his perfect 20-for-20 shooting from the charity stripe.
With that, he equaled the second all-time most free throws made in a game without a miss by Wes Matthews back in 1991 in Ginebra’s 121-118 loss to Purefoods in the Third Conference, per PBA stats chief Fidel Mangonon III.
“When I was at the free throw line tonight, I just felt, like, a deep sense of calm. I really did,” said the former NBA pro out of the Colorado Buffaloes program.
“I went 100 percent from the free throw line. But I think within my first couple of free throws, I knew I was like, it’s going to be a good night tonight.”
Well, King indeed had a good night and that proved to be enough reason to smile for Blackwater, who finished the conference with a 5-5 record.
Four more players finished in double figures in the win, with Sedrick Barefield leading the locals with 21 points on a 50-percent clip from the field.
Richard Escoto made 13 points and five rebounds. Troy Rosario and rookie DJ Mitchell, meanwhile, scored 12 and 11 markers, respectively.
Leading the Elasto Painters, on the other hand, was Jhonard Clarito with 18 points and seven rebounds in the loss, ending the group phase at 7-3.
Despite the defeat, Rain or Shine is assured of the no. 1 spot in Group B, and will be taking on Group A’s no. 4 in Magnolia in the best-of-5 quarters.
The Scores:
Blackwater 139 – King 64, Barefield 21, Escoto 13, Rosario 12, Mitchell 11, Corteza 5, Chua 4, Casio 3, Ilagan 3, Montalbo 2, Jopia 1, Ponferrada 0, Kwekuteye 0, Suerte 0.
Rain or Shine 118 – Clarito 18, Asistio 14, Fuller 14, Tiongson 11, Lemetti 9, Nocum 9, Ildefonso 8, Caracut 7, Mamuyac 6, Belga 6, Datu 3, Villegas 3, Escandor 2, Norwood 0, Borboran 0.
Quarterscores: 41-37, 70-54, 106-91, 139-118.
