Blackwater dodged the ouster anew and barged into the semifinals of the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup with a 91-81 come-from-behind victory over Jumbo Plastic on Thursday at the Ynares Sports Arena Pasig. NUKI SABIO/PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines — Blackwater dodged the ouster anew and barged into the semifinals of the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup with a 91-81 come-from-behind victory over Jumbo Plastic on Thursday at the Ynares Sports Arena Pasig.
The Elite forced the Giants, which had a twice-to-beat edge entering their match-up, to a surplus of costly turnovers in the third quarter and erased a 15-point deficit to take over in the payoff period.
“We know we can beat them anytime, all we have to do is to play disciplined basketball,” said head coach Leo Isaac. “Control ourselves and emotion. It was a good test of character for our part.”
The Elite have managed to climb their way up from the verge of elimination, hurdling Cebuana Lhuillier and Cafe France to nail the sixth place then neutralizing no. 3 seed Jumbo Plastic twice.
With the victory, Blackwater set up a best-of-three semifinals series against no. 2 squad Big Chill next week.
Jericho Cruz sizzled with 29 big points, 17 in that pivotal third-quarter turnaround for Blackwater, which turned Jumbo Plastic’s 21 miscues to 24 turnovers points.
The Adamson standout also hauled down 10 boards, notched two assists and two steals sans a turnover in 31 minutes of action.
“The intensity he’s giving us is unmatched. We would want him to go for isolation plays, but he surprised us with a lot of 3-pointers especially during the crucial stretch.”
Blackwater’s starting guard Allan Mangahas chipped in 17 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals. Kevin Ferrer and Pari Llagas contributed 14 and 11 markers, respectively.
The Giants, meanwhile, ended their Aspirants’ Cup campaign on a sour note as they failed to find an answer to the Elite’s swarming full-court pressure in the second half.
After yielding the lead to Blackwater in the third, Jumbo Plastic tried to stay in the game but couldn’t get nearer than two points as the turnovers continued to pile up.
Karl Dehesa led Jumbo Plastic with 18 points, Mark Romero had 17 points while Jan Colina and Elliot Tan scored 10 apiece. Tan, though, accounted for 10 of the Giants’ total turnovers.