Macau not going down without a fight

Tony Mitchell (No. 14 photo above) plays the entire 48 minutes for Macau. —PBA IMAGES

It hasn’t looked like a good season for Macau in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup, and the Black Knights’ standing is solid proof of that.

However, Macau showed it can still go down swinging with a 123-119 win over Blackwater at Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Tuesday night.

Coach Marcus Elliott has seen the standings and knows where they are. So even with the win against the Bossing, he understands that their playoff hopes have, realistically, fizzled out.

Instead, the player-turned-coach is looking ahead to what’s next for the guest team from East Asia.

“We just want to get better. We don’t know what’ll happen next, but we’ll just continue to build on this win and build on our confidence,” he said.

Just falling short

“We’ve had three or four games in the clutch where it could’ve gone either way, and I’m just thankful that today, it worked out in our favor.”

The Black Knights led by as many as 13 points over Blackwater, but the Bossing—who are also running out of quarterfinal chances—had other plans in the fourth quarter.

Blackwater clawed back into the driver’s seat and regained the advantage, 116-115, courtesy of a Bradwyn Guinto bucket at the 2:59 mark of the period.

Damian Chongqui, however, put Macau back on top before Jenning Leung sealed the game with a layup that capped a 5-1 blitz, giving the Black Knights a 120-117 lead with 2:10 remaining. INQ