(PBA images)
BLACKWATER turned to its 1-2 punch in Christian David and Sedrick Barefield in finally quelling Terrafirma’s threat and come out a 97-82 winner Sunday in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
David scored eight of his 19 points and Barefield seven of his 12 in the fourth as the Bossing ultimately took the fight out of the Dyip, who put up a gallant stand despite falling behind by 18 points early.
Even Richard Escoto, Bradwyn Guinto and BJ Andrade got into the act with some crucial baskets of their own as Blackwater snapped out of a six-game losing streak and improved to a 2-8 record going to its final game of the conference and season against Phoenix on Friday.
Escoto fired 15 of his career-high 21 points in the second period that propelled the Bossing to as much as a 45-27 lead and a 52-45 halftime cushion and Guinto scored all his eight points in the opening minutes of the third quarter to pad the difference to 81-67.
It was Andrade who struck home the game’s biggest dagger by booming in a four-pointer that stretched Blackwater’s lead to an unassailable 95-77, only 4:13 left to play.
“When they were making a run… one thing about Terrafirma is they never stop fighting, so that’s much respect to their team. But Sedrick and CD [David] were hitting big shots. When they were coming close, they were there to save us tonight,” said Blackwater head coach Jeffrey Cariaso.
“We’re in the same boat in terms of standings, but you gotta respect them for not giving up,” added Cariaso.
The loss, its 10th straight against an opening day win, officially capped another sorry campaign for Terrafirma, whose franchise is reportedly about to be sold after the season ends.
Despite a sore back he hurt as early as the second quarter, Mark Sangalang still scored a gamehigh 24 points with Stanley Pringle and Brent Paraiso adding 12 points each and Terrence Romeo, in only his fourth game of the conference, chipping in 10.
“It feels very good to win. It’s been a long conference for us. We got a couple of games we should have won, three of them, but, yeah, it feels good. Everybody contributed, guys off the bench, especially Richard. It’s a team win,” said David who also collared 12 rebounds.
Barefield did issue eight assists and Abu Tratter contributed seven boards that helped Blackwater emerge with a 55-37 rebounding advantage.
Long distance sniping was also a big factor as Blackwater went 11-of-29 from beyond the shorter arc compared to Terrafirma’s 3-of-22 clip.
