McCarthy, Perez lead Columbian bounce-back over Blackwater

MANILA, Philippines – The Columbian Dyip hardly broke a sweat as they held down the Blackwater Elite with a wire-to-wire 102-90 win in the 2019 PBA Governor’s Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena on Friday, October 11.

Coming off close loss against the undefeated TNT KaTropa, young star CJ Perez set his mind on revenge as he erupted for 12 of his 24 points in the tone-setting 1st quarter. He eventually filled up the statsheet down the stretch to finish with 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.

Rashawn McCarthy, meanwhile, picked up the slack in the second half as he finished with a team-high 25 markers on an efficient 8-of-15 clip while Khapri Alston chipped in a 20-20 line of 24 points and 20 boards. 

Thanks to Perez’s white-hot 1st quarter, the Dyip chugged along to a 28-18 lead and never looked back, which was the plan all along for head coach Johnedel Cardel.

“That’s really our goal because in the first two losses that we had, we played terrible defense in the first half,” he said. “I emphasized that we defend in every quarter because we have no problem in offense as everyone can shoot.” 

Although Ray Parks got the Elite within 3, 59-62, off a triple at the 6:02 mark of the 3rd, McCarthy answered with timely buckets to push the lead back to double-digits, 77-67, entering the final frame. 

There, the Dyip shifted to a higher gear as they led by as many as 15 points, 100-85, capped by a McCarthy dagger trey with 1:17 remaining. 

Aaron Fuller led Blackwater with a 26-point, 10-board double-double while Parks added 21 markers on a 6-of-20 shooting in the losing effort. 

Columbian rose to a 3-2 record behind reigning Gov’s Cup champions Magnolia Hotshots while Blackwater fell to 9th place at 1-3.

The Scores 

Columbian 102 – McCarthy 25, Perez 24, Alston 24, Celda 12, Tiongson 8, Corpuz 5, Cahilig 2, Gabayni 2, Gabriel 0, Calvo 0, Flores 0. 

Blackwater 90 – Fuller 26, Parks 21, Maliksi 9, Sumang 7, Belo 7, Al-Hussaini 6, Cortez 5, Cruz 5, Digregorio 3, Javier 1, Dario 0, Desiderio 0. 

Quarters: 28-18, 49-42, 77-67, 102-90.

– Rappler.com