Blackwater ends league’s worst season with a victory over No. 1 Magnolia

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The worst season by a Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) team ended on a somewhat triumphant feeling on Wednesday night, when Blackwater hammered out a 101-100 victory that reduced Magnolia to an answer to a trivia question: Which team surrendered a victory that ended the league’s longest losing streak?

The Hotshots, already assured of a twice-to-beat incentive in the playoffs as the No. 1 seed, won’t have time to worry about being an asterisk to an unflattering record as they head on to begin preparations for the next round of the season-ending Governors’ Cup.

But for the Bossing, the win was everything.

“Winning is hard,” Blackwater team owner Dioceldo Sy said in the dugout at Smart Araneta Coliseum after the game. He heaved a huge sigh of relief before adding: “After two conferences, after 29 games, no?”

“The monkey is off our back now,” said coach Ariel Vanguardia. “I made mistakes along the way this conference, I admit that [but] I think we’re better than just a one-victory [team].”

The victory didn’t undo what could arguably boil down as the worst season for a PBA club playing at least two conferences.

After enduring what is the league’s longest streak—by a mile—at 29 straight games, the Bossing ended the season with just one win, breaking the fewest number of wins in a season (2) by Pepsi (1990) and Country Fair (1984). By winning just once in 22 games this season, Blackwater also ended with the lowest winning percentage among those three teams at .045. Pepsi won two out of 28 matches (.071) while Country Fair won two out of 23 games (.087).

At least, the Bossing avoided further humiliation by warding off the league’s first winless season—however barely.

“I really want to thank Magnolia for giving us that one win,” said Sy. “Bibigay na nga pinahirapan pa (They collapsed anyway, but they still made it difficult for us).

“So at least we exited with a won game against the No. 1 team.”

Blackwater was down a point and Magnolia was in possession of the ball in the dying seconds when Mark Barroca turned the ball over off a full-court trap and Bossing big man Barkley Eboña delivered the decisive layup that forged the final tally with 10 seconds remaining.

Magnolia still nearly stole the game but Jackson Corpuz’s drive was stymied by Rey Suerte at the buzzer, sealing the Hotshots role in history—which coach Chito Victolero says he won’t dwell on.

“The win was bound to happen for [Blackwater],” Victolero said. “And it happened today. They deserved to win; they worked hard, played hard. You can’t take that away from them.”

Blackwater’s win sidelined TNT’s 127-107 victory over Terrafirma in the first game.

Meanwhile, the national cage program is set to name a 15-man contingent—likely to feature a bevy of talents from the pro ranks—for the Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam this May.