Learning lesson for Blackwater

Blackwater’s Henry Walker gestures after a play against Meralco. INQUIRER PHOTO/ Sherwin Vardeleon

Blackwater was 12 minutes away from history.

A no. 8 team with a twice-to-win disadvantage was on the verge of forcing top seeded Meralco into submission and advancing to the PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals against Star.

The Bolts, however, had other plans and hammered out a 104-96 comeback win.

“All of us want something to prove; we can’t call this overachieving if we played just the quarterfinals,” said a dejected Allein Maliksi Thursday at Smart Araneta Coliseum. “Of course you want to win the championship. So, I think there’s a reason why we were put in this situation.”

“It’s that we have to learn from this and apply whatever we need to do next conference, next season.”

Blackwater started its failed upset bid with a 92-91 escape in the first game to force the do-or-die game.