Blackwater beats Meralco, ends conference on winning note

Reil Cervantes. PBA Images

Blackwater ended its 2015 PBA Commissioner’s Cup campaign on a winning note after beating quarterfinals-bound Meralco, 84-72, in a no-bearing game for both squads Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Import Marcus Douthit had 27 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks while JP Erram posted career-highs with 21 points and five blocks for the Elite.

“Going into this game regardless of being already eliminated, we would just wanted to continue on gaining more experience, learning more,” said Blackwater head coach Leo Isaac.

“I just told our players to just give their 100 percent, give their very best and this is part of the building process that we are undergoing and hopefully we can continue this up to the third conference,” Isaac added.

The Elite finished at the bottom of the standings for the second straight conference but they showed big improvement with a 3-8 record after a winless Philippine Cup stint.

Jared Dillinger had 15 points and seven rebounds for the Bolts, who started the conference winning their first five games but will head into the playoffs having lost five of their last six outings.

Meralco had already locked up a best-of-three quarterfinals duel with NLEX. Import Josh Davis had 11 points, 20 rebounds and two blocks in three quarters with head coach Norman Black opting to rest his main hitters in the fourth quarter and prepare for the grueling playoff grind ahead.

Blackwater welcomed back Reil Cervantes, who suited up for the Elite in the PBA D-League. The Elite shipped Alex Nuyles to the Kia Carnival for Cervantes, who scored 13 points in close to 30 minutes of action.