George King asserted himself as Blackwater crushed an all-Filipino San Miguel, 111-94, to keep its quarterfinal chances very much alive in the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup, Saturday evening at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The former NBA pro erupted for 49 points and 11 rebounds, as he clearly took advantage of being a mismatch for the disarmed opposition as the Beermen missed the services of Jordan Adams due to a right hamstring strain.
He steered the Bossing to an early lead, then sustained his fine play afterwards to spearhead the second-half breakaway for a strong finish toward joining NLEX at the fourth spot of Group B as they now share identical 5-4 records.
Now, they need to beat Rain or Shine on Monday and hope for the Road Warriors to lose to Ginebra on Sunday to completely secure their position.
“We want to stay alive tonight, and that’s what happened,” said head coach Jeff Cariaso. “We’re just going to pray that what’s meant to be is going to happen.
“We’ll just do our job and prepare for Monday’s game against Rain or Shine because that’s the only thing we can control,” added the seasoned mentor.
Sedrick Barefield supplied 14 points and five assists for Blackwater, who also ended a four-game losing skid to the Beermen dating back from 2023.
On the other hand, June Mar Fajardo finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds to lead San Miguel, who finished the group stage with a 6-4 record.
CJ Perez made 21 points and eight rebounds, while Terrence Romeo added 15 markers in the loss that saw the powerhouse trail by as many as 25.
With the loss, the Beermen will either finish at no. 2 or 3 in the group, depending on the Ginebra-NLEX game to be held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The Scores:
Blackwater 111 – King 49, Barefield 14, Chua 9, David 6, Rosario 6, Kwekuteye 5, Ilagan 4, Casio 4, Escoto 4, Jopia 4, Suerte 4, Corteza 2, Mitchell 0, Ponferrada 0, Montalbo 0.
San Miguel 94 – Fajardo 23, Perez 21, Romeo 15, Lassiter 5, Rosales 5, Trollano 5, Cruz 4, Brondial 4, Nava 4, Teng 4, Manuel 2, Jimenez 2, Ross 0.
Quarterscores: 30-21, 52-43, 85-72, 111-94.
