An elite performance

Meralco import Gani Lawal. PBA IMAGES

Rookie Ray Parks Jr. caught fire in the extra period, knocking down 10 points to power Blackwater to a 108-107 squeaker over defending champion Barangay Ginebra in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Friday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Parks finished with 28 points, the same output by import Alex Stepheson, as the Elite carved out a second straight victory and vaulted to the top by surviving a 44-point output by Ginebra’s Justin Brownlee.

Parks had two triples and a layup off a Ginebra turnover as the Elite took a 106-99 lead under three minutes remaining, but Blackwater still needed to hold its breath in a wild sequence in the end before emerging a surprise early leader in the conference.

“For a rookie to have that [take-charge] mentality says so much about how much of a winner he is,” Blackwater coach Aris Dimaunahan said of Parks, who was also one of the heroes in the team’s conference-opening win over Meralco last weekend.

In that loss to the Elite, Meralco coach Norman Black rued his charges’ lack of teamwork and promptly made adjustments.

This time, the Bolts drew balanced scoring from its core to hold off Columbian, 101-92, in the earlier game.

“I think our team worked on our offense. Everybody was sharing the basketball and everybody was being a part of the offense—that really helped us in this game. And that’s what we look to continue for our remaining games—which is to spread the wealth, so to speak,” Black said.

The Bolts opened the game with eight unanswered points and steadily built on that cushion the rest of the way.