Blackwater’s Mike Cortez. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Blackwater found the stroke as it swung the anchor down on a depleted Globalport, 115-103, ending its two-game slide in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
With the win, the Elite moved up to sixth seed with a 3-3 record while the Batang Pier, who played without the injured Stanley Pringle and a had limited minutes from Terrence Romeo, slid to 2-4.
Blackwater took its stride in the fourth going on a 15-0 run after import MJ Rhett converted from the baseline following back-to-back triples from Mike Cortez and Reil Cervantes.
Elite head coach Leo Isaac ordered his team to stick to the team’s offensive plan and veer away as much as possible from isolation sets.
“We made it clear no single player will take charge,” Isaac said. “I emphasized to let the offensive system work for the whole team.”
“If you noticed the ball distribution, a lot of players were involved offensively.”
Blackwater had a field day breaking Globalport’s zone defense as evidenced by Cortez and Cervantes’ fourth quarter triples and the 21 assists that were too much for the Batang Pier.
Rhett led five Elite who scored in double figures as he finished with 30 to go along 13 boards.
Mike Cortez had 22 points with seven assists while rookie Art Dela Cruz had 16 points and seven rebounds. Cervantes and Carlo Lastimosa came off the bench to pitch in 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Import Calvin Warner led Globalport with 26 points and 22 rebounds while Romeo, who incurred a sore right calf, added 17 points.
Reserve guard Jonathan Uyloan had 15 points while Keith Jensen and Paolo Taha had a dozen points each.
Blackwater beat GlobalPort for the first time in its young franchise history.