Blackwater five takes it

JUBILANT members and team officials of breakthrough champion squad Blackwater Sports savor their stunning sweep of heavily favored NLEX in yesterday’s Game 2 of the PBA D-League Foundation Cup title series at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig. Among those in photo are team owner Dioceldo Sy, manager Rudy Yu and coach Leo Isaac. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

Playing with a lot of tenacity in the second half, Blackwater Sports ended the reign of NLEX in the PBA D-League with a pulsating 80-74 victory yesterday, completing a sweep by the Elite of the Foundation Cup finals at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.

Robby Celiz and Justin Chua showed up their more touted rivals by starring in a torrid second-half assault that boosted the Elite from 18 points down in the third period and eventually dethroned the Road Warriors, who ruled the first four conferences with ease.

Undaunted by the Road Warriors’ winning tradition, the Elite, owned by businessman Dioceldo Dy,  proved tougher when it mattered in Games 1 and 2.

“It wasn’t easy but all we had to do was believe in the players and in the system, and instill discipline on offense and defense” said Blackwater coach Leo Isaac.

“Down (14 points) at halftime, we knew we can’t win if we lose our composure, so we took it possession by possession and took good shots.”

More importantly, Blackwater, playing with a thin  rotation, was undaunted by NLEX’s star-studded lineup.

Celiz, a seldom-used guard playing out of National U, fired 20 points, including 11 in the third quarter that sparked the Elite’s comeback from 40-58 down.

Motivated by the thought of playing against his more heralded collegiate teammates in Greg Slaughter and Nico Salva, former Ateneo center Chua delivered 17 points and six boards.

Allan Mangahas dished out a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

“We feel sorry for him not winning the MVP award, but he proved that he is the team’s MVP,” Isaac said of the former Mapua court general.

The Road Warriors leaned on Slaughter to take a 52-38 lead at halftime. They padded it to 18 in the third, before back-to-back triples by Celiz set off the fightback.

Baser Amer tied the game for NLEX at 72 with 2:17 left, but Mangahas buried a runner in the lane and Celiz followed up a Chua miss with 41.2 ticks to go.

The scores:
BLACKWATER 80—Celiz 20, Chua 17, Mangahas 13, Ferrer 12, Llagas 11, Ciriacruz 7, Bagatsing 0, Austria 0.
NLEX 74—Salva 14, Lanete 12, Slaughter 11, Long 9, Alas 8, Garcia 7, J. Pascual 6, Amer 5, Villarias 2, Ganuelas 0, R. Pascual 0, Camson 0.
Quarters: 21-22, 38-52, 60-62, 80-74