A Blackwater player slices through the paint against a phalanx of Meralco defenders.
Carlo Lastimosa’s late basket gives Blackwater first win in 41st PBA Philippine Cup
After starting their campaign with two narrow losses, the Blackwater Elite once again found themselves in a dogfight.
But this time, the Elite got the job done.
Carlo Lastimosa banked in a floater with 1.8 seconds left, lifting Blackwater to a thrilling 92-90 win over the Meralco Bolts last night in the 41st PBA Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Before Lastimosa’s game-winning play, Cliff Hodge tied the contest at 90-all when he sank a three-pointer off a nice pass from Jimmy Alapag.
The Hodge three-pointer was part of a mighty run that saw the Bolts rallying back from an 18-point third quarter deficit.
Lastimosa, however, saved the day for the Elite.
Coming off a timeout, the Elite turned to Lastimosa, who eluded Rey Guevarra from the top of the key before hitting the floater over Jared Dillinger.
“From the release point, I had no doubt that Carlo’s shot will go in,” said Blackwater head coach Leo Isaac, who squad lost its first two games by an average margine of six points.
Blackwater improved to 1-2 (win-loss), while the Bolts stayed winless after two games.
“Sarap ng feeling,” added Isaac. “We hope things will be on our favor going into our succeeding games. It’s good to see that our players stepped up like Reil Cervantes and Carlo Lastimosa.”
It was a balanced offense for Blackwater as it had six players scoring in double figures.
JP Erram led all scorers for the Elite with 14, Reil Cervantes, Mike Cortez, James Sena and Bam Gamalinda each had 12 markers, while Lastimosa wound up with 11.
Gary David topped the Bolts with 23, Dillinger donated 15, while Hodge and Rabeh Al-Hussaini pitched in 13 and 10, respectively.
THE SCORES
BLACKWATER (92)- Erram 14, Cervantes 12, Cortez 12, Gamalinda 12, Sena 12, Lastimosa 11, Agovida 9, Canada 3, Reyes 3, Ballesteros 2, Dela Cruz 2, Vosotros 0.
MERALCO (90)- David 23, Dillinger 15, Hodge 13, Al-Hussaini 10, Alapag 7, Guevarra 7, Newsome 7, Hugnatan 4, Buenafe 2, Caram 2, Amer 0, Faundo 0, Nabong 0.QUARTERSCORES: 26-16, 48-33, 69-63, 92-90.