Blackwater rookie Ato Ular during a game against Terrafirma in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup. PBA IMAGES
Blackwater pummeled Terrafirma, 107-70, in the PBA Philippine Cup on Saturday night, for its the biggest winning margin in franchise history and its first win streak in a long while.
Rookie Ato Ular put up 16 points and five rebounds to lead a balanced attack at Ynares Center in Antipolo City and helping Blackwater to a 3-1 start, the club’s finest in the all-Filipino conference.
“I think everybody just bought in,” coach Ariel Vanguardia said after the contest.
JVee Casio finished with 14 points while Yousef Taha added 12 points and 14 rebounds. Mark Dyke, Barkley Eboña and James Sena all added 11 each in a morale-boosting victory for a club that has long been regarded as the whipping boys of the league.
“We’re having fun because the guys like playing with each other,” said Vanguardia.“Still, there’s a lot of room for improvement. We have to figure out how to play against the bigger teams,” he added.
Joshua Munzon had 17 points while Joseph Gabayni added 12 for Terrafirma. Eric Camson and Juami Tiongson both had 10 as the Dyip continued to slide, absorbing their fifth straight loss in the tournament.“[N]ext game’s gonna be a tough game for us. Meralco’s a contender. We played them in a tune-up and they embarrassed us. So we’re gonna scout this game, forget about what happened today, and move on to the next one,” Vanguardia said. INQ