PARI LLagas of Blackwater tears the middle for a layup off NLEX’s Byron Villiarias and Nico Salva in yesterday’s game at Ynares Arena in Pasig. AUGUST DELA CRUZ
Blackwater Sports showed no fear of four-time champion NLEX as the Elite shocked the Road Warriors, 70-67, yesterday to move within a win of the PBA D-League Foundation Cup championship at Ynares Sports Arena.
Kevin Ferrer buried an undergoal stab with 14 seconds left as the Elite pinned a first loss on the Road Warriors in the title series of the league.
“I’ve been telling my players that they (Road Warriors) eat the same way we do,” said Blackwater coach Leo Isaac. “They’re also human. We conditioned our minds that we can beat them.”
Blackwater will try to complete the monumental upset in Game 2 of the best-of-three series on Tuesday.
Ferrer scored the go-ahead basket for the Elite, 68-67, after the Road Warriors had grabbed the lead, 67-66, on Ronald Pascual’s back-to-back triples.
The Road Warriors blew their chance in the next play with an errant inbound pass. Allan Mangahas then nailed two free throws with 12.1 seconds left to set the final count and cap another all-around performance of 16 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and two steals.
The Road Warriors looked set for another convincing win as they posted double-digit leads in the first half.
Still trailing 36-45 midway in the third, the Elite rallied behind Chua to gain the upperhand for the first time, 48-47.
“We identified the NLEX players who can hurt us,” said Isaac. “Everyone knew what they had to do.”
The scores:
BLACKWATER SPORTS 70—Chua 17, A. Mangahas 16, Llagas 8, Ciriacruz 7, Celiz 7, Ferrer 6, Suguitan 5, Bagatsing 2, Vigil 0, Mazo 0, Pe 0, J. Mangahas 0, Austria 0.
NLEX 67—Lanete 12, Salva 10, R. Pascual 10, Slaughter 9, Long 7, Villarias 6, J. Pascual 6, Camson 4, Alas 3, Amer 0, Hermida 0, Garcia 0.
Quarters: 14-20, 29-38, 56-52, 70-67