Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Mac Belo scored 20 points and Blackwater held off GlobalPort, 99-91, for a monumental fourth win in the 2017 PBA Philippine Cup Wednesday night at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
The much-improved Elite hiked their record to 4-2, climbing into second place in the standings behind the San Miguel Beermen.
“We wanted this victory. We wanted to give ourselves a chance to experience being number two in the standings and we want to have a good Christmas this year,” said Blackwater head coach Leo Isaac. “We want to win over Global and prep ourselves for another win over Mahindra on Sunday.”
“In our three years in the PBA, we have never been in this situation that we’re at number two midway through the elimination round and we will really cherish this and continue working hard to get to where we want to be this conference.”
Nard Pinto added 15 points and six assists while Roi Sumang chipped in nine, including the game-clinching 3-pointer, 97-89, with 52.2 seconds left.
Terrence Romeo flirted with a triple-double, collecting 22 points, eight rebounds and nine assists but shot just 6-of-21 from the field.
He also cooled off in the second half after pouring in 16 points in the first two quarters.
GlobalPort’s other star guard Stanley Pringle got ejected late un the third quarter after picking up his second flagrant foul 1.