Blackwater snaps 5-game skid against Barako Bull

MANILA, Philippines – The Blackwater Elite avoided what would have been another collapse and snapped a 5-game losing streak against the Barako Bull Energy, 116-92, on Friday, December 11, at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

Led by the best games of their careers by third-year standout Carlo Lastimosa and former San Beda Red Lion Art Dela Cruz, the Elite steered away from falling to 1-6 in games where they were either ahead or tied at halftime.

Lastimosa scored 17 points in the fourth quarter and finished with a career-best 38 to go with 5 3-pointers, while the rookie Dela Cruz had 21 points and 6 boards in just a shade over 21 minutes.

The Elite shot 55% from the floor and 48% from downtown while winning the rebounding battle, 51-40. They also turned 17 Barako Bull turnovers to 18 points, while the Energy had just 4 points off giveaways.

“We really had to push them (the players) during practices and going into the last practice session yesterday, we had to really emphasize the importance of the remaining 3 games,” said Blackwater head coach Leo Isaac post-game as his team had its biggest winning margin ever in franchise history, and won for the first time at The Big Dome in a Philippine Cup game.

“We keep on saying pwede pa, pwede pa (we can still do this), don’t give up.”

Willy Wilson had another stellar game by finishing with 23 points and 7 rebounds, but outside of Josh Urbiztondo’s 17 points, he didn’t receive much help from teammates.

Barako Bull shot just 35% from the field and its bench was out-scored, 55-36.

“We had some good games, especially from Carlo Lastimosa, Art Dela Cruz, Bambam Gamalinda, Mike Cortex, Reil Cervantes, [JP] Erram, so we were able to shut down the likes of JC Intal, and although Willy Wilson had his baskets, pero hindi ganon ka tindi (they didn’t hurt that much),” said Isaac.

The game was tied at 10-all when Blackwater went on a run to take control of the entire contest.

Consecutive jumpers by Cortez, Lastimosa, and Erram made it a 16-10 game, and after Lastimosa hit two free throws, he hit another basket to give his team a 10-point lead.

In the fourth period, Lastimosa went a stretch where he hit 3 straight triples from the 2:16 mark up to 1:10 left in the game, turning a 107-88 Blackwater lead to 116-88, and providing an emphatic finish to his memorable outing.

The win improved the record of Blackwater to 2-7 as they fight for a seat in the 10-team playoffs chase, while Barako Bull, who won all its 3 games against the Elite last season, dropped to 4-5, but is already guaranteed a postseason berth.

“Of course we’re hoping na we could win more games to have a better chance of going into the next phase of this tournament, so we just have to continue, practicing hard, and more on the mental side of preparation,” Isaac said, before later adding:

“We just have to eliminate the word frustration.”

Blackwater has games remaining against Star (December 18) and Mahindra (December 20), while Barako Bull will still face Star (December 13) and Alaska (December 19).

Scores:

Blackwater (116): Lastimosa 38, Dela Cruz 21, Gamalinda 15, Cortez 9, Golla 9, Erram 6, Reyes 5, Cervantes 4, Sena 4, Vosotros 3, Canada 2, Agovida 0, Ballesteros 0.

Barako Bull (92): Wilson 23, Urbiztondo 17, Fortuna 13, Pennisi 10, Lanete 6, Brondial 5, Forrester 4, Intal 4, Monfort 4, Baracael 2, Caperal 2, Miranda 2, Sorongon 0.

Quarter scores: 26-12; 56-37; 81-66; 116-92 – Rappler.com