ANTIPOLO – Blackwater did not allow another collapse to take place as it eked out a 108-105 victory over the gritty Phoenix Super LPG to break through in the 2023 PBA Governors’ Cup, Friday at the Ynares Center here.
Shawn Glover nailed the go-ahead jumper with 1:14 left to play, which was more than enough to swing the momentum back to the Bossing the rest of the way after squandering a 10-point advantage entering the final period.
The troika of JVee Casio, Rashawn McCarthy, and Baser Amer helped their import by keeping the Fuel Masters at bay en route to redeeming themselves after that 124-102 meltdown against NLEX the last time out.
“I challenged the guys to be tougher today,” said coach Ariel Vanguardia as Blackwater ended a seven-game skid dating back to the Commissioner’s Cup.
Glover led the way with 31 points and 13 rebounds, together with three assists, two steals, and two blocks for a full line in 36 minutes.
Amer continued his fine play with 17 points. Ato Ular notched a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Yousef Taha added 10 and 13.
“We treated it as a championship game kasi syempre, it’s hard to be down 0-2. Sunod sunod na yung mga games eh, mahirap makabawi,” Vanguardia said.
Blackwater will look to make it back-to-back against San Miguel Beer on Wednesday, 3 p.m., at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
Du’Vaughn Maxwell, on the other hand, led the Fuel Masters with 37 points and 17 rebounds in the loss — their second in as many games.
Tyler Tio had 15 points, including the bucket — a cleanup of his own miss — that gave his team the 98-97 lead with 1:38 left that was unfortunately negated immediately by Glover through a midrange jumper.
Jason Perkins had 13 points, three rebounds, and six assists while Jayjay Alejandro chimed in 10 markers in the rally that fell short.
Phoenix will also take on the Beermen next this Sunday in Antipolo as well at 6:45 p.m., hoping to get win no. 1 against a debuting squad,
The Scores:
Blackwater 108 – Glover 31, Amer 17, Ular 14, Taha 10, McCarthy 9, Hill 6, Banal 6, Ayonayon 5, Casio 5, Ilagan 3, DiGregorio 2, Torralba 0, Escoto 0, Suerte 0.
Phoenix Super LPG 105 – Maxwell 37, Tio 15, Perkins 13, Alejandro 10, Serrano 9, Soyud 5, Manganti 5, Garcia 5, Jazul 2, Muyang 2, Camacho 2, Go 0.
Quarterscores: 25-18, 54-45, 79-69, 108-105
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
