Blackwater dumps Rising Zephyr, gets crack at Super 8 semis

MACAU—Blackwater has found relative success in foreign soil.

The Elite have a chance to advance to the semifinals after defeating Japanese team Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka  of the Asia League Super 8 Thursday at Macau East Asian Games Dome here.

Blackwater, which bowed out early in the 2018 PBA Commissioner’s Cup, finished with a 2-1 record in Group B in the tournament pitting top ball clubs in Asia.

The Elite await the result of Guangzhou and Seoul match later in the day to find out whether they advance to the next round.

Both teams exchanged blows well until the start of the second quarter with the Rizing Zephyr taking a 28-26 lead five minutes into the period.

That was until the Elite caught fire with a blistering 16-0 run to take a 42-28 lead off of Raymar’s Jose’s three-point play with 3:54 left in the quarter.

Blackwater then banked on a strong finish to keep its distance, outscoring Fukuoka, 24-11, in the fourth quarter and pushing the lead to 86-60 lead courtesy of JP Erram’S triple with 1:21 left in the game.

Raymar Jose flirted with a double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds while John Pinto had 15 points, nine in the third quarter, six rebounds, and four assists.

Mike Digregorio filled up the stat sheets with 11 points, five rebounds, and six assists while Paul Zamar came short of a double-double after finishing with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Kazuya Hatano led Fokuoka with 14 points and 13 rebounds as the Rizing Zephyr end the group stage without a win.