MANILA, Philippines—Blackwater Sports beat the odds anew to clinch the last semifinal berth in the PBA D-League Aspirants Cup Friday at Ynares Sports Arena.
Rallying from 15 points down, the Elite overcame the twice-to-beat advantage of Jumbo Plastic, 91-81, in the knockout quarterfinal duel to become the lowest seeded team to advance to the Final Four.
Jericho Cruz exploded for 29 points to fuel the huge fightback of the sixth-ranked Elite, who escaped elimination for the fourth straight time to arrange a semifinal showdown with Big Chill.
“It was a good test of character on our part,” said Blackwater coach Leo Isaac. “At the back of our minds we knew we could beat them anytime. All we had to do was play disciplined basketball, control ourselves, control our motion and play with a lot of intensity.”
Game 1 of the best-of-three semifinal series kicks off on Tuesday with No. 1 NLEX battling Hog’s Breath Cafe at 2 p.m. and No. 2 Big Chill taking on Blackwater at 4 p.m. at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
Cruz dropped 17 points in the pivotal third quarter where the Elite staged a 12-2 rally to trim a 39-50 deficit to just a point, 51-52.
Five straight points from Allan Mangahas gave the Elite their first lead since the opening minutes, 56-55, before another seven-point cluster from Cruz gave them the lead for good, 63-58.
“He really played with intensity,” Isaac said of Cruz, who wound up with a double-double by also grabbing 10 rebounds.
“We wanted him to go for isolation plays or one-and-one plays, but he surprised us with a lot of three pointers. And with able support from Mangahas and (Kevin) Ferrer, we were able to survive.”
Mangahas delivered with 17 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals, while Ferrer added 14 markers.
The Elite forged the winner-take-all after drubbing the Giants, 86-78, last Tuesday in a game they controlled all the way.
This time, though, the No. 3 Giants came out sizzling in the first half and pulled ahead by as many as 15 points, 40-25, behind Karl Dehesa.
Dehesa finished with 18 points, 12 in the first half, while Mark Romero also shot 17 for the Giants.
The scores:
BLACKWATER SPORTS 91—Cruz 29, Mangahas 17, Ferrer 14, Llagas 11, Ciriacruz 8, Bulawan 7, Austria 3, Manguera 2, Bagatsing 0, Pe 0.
JUMBO PLASTIC 81—Dehesa 18, Romero 17, Colina 10, Tan 10, Ballesteros 8. Petilos 7, Arboleda 6, Magat 5, Alano 0.
Quarters: 21-27, 33-44, 66-63, 91-81
RELATED STORIES
Blackwater ousts Jumbo Plastic for semis spot in PBA D-League
PBA D-League: Blackwater, Jumbo play KO for semifinal berth