Barako Bull dismantles Blackwater for 2nd win

MANILA, Philippines – The Barako Bull Energy improved to 2-0 after the first week of the PBA Governors’ Cup following a one-sided and easy 105-90 victory over the Blackwater Elite on Mother’s Day Sunday, May 10, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Import Liam Mcmorrow led the Energy with 23 points to go with 15 rebounds in a game which he and his teammates dedicated to their mothers due to the day’s celebration.

“It was a good win on Mother’s Day, you know? We talked about that before the game – win for our mothers. Not anything individual, but win as a team,” McMorrow said after the game.  

The 7-foot-1 import put up 33 points and 22 rebounds in his team’s conference debut win against NLEX, and was once again impressive on Sunday, whether it was scoring effectively, rebounding, or providing energy. 

“Like what Coach (Koy Banal) said, I try to bring my max every game, [like] you know, sprint on every play even if there’s two guys ahead, all that stuff,” said McMorrow, who shot 10-of-17 from the field. 

“So [I’m] just running hard and [giving] lots of effort and I think it rubs off on my teammates just like coach said.” 

JC Intal had another great performance, finishing with 17 points on 70% shooting and 7 rebounds. Second-year man Carlo Lastimosa also played well with a career-high 18 points and 7-of-11 shooting.

Barako shot 48% from the floor and was effective inside the 3-point line, finishing with 64 points in the paint to Blackwater’s 40. The Elite shot just 41% from the field.

It was already a no contest in the first period, where the Energy established an 18-8 lead a few minutes into the ball game. After 12 minutes of play, their lead ballooned to 21, 32-11, and the outcome of the contest was all but sealed. 

Marcus Douthit led Blackwater, losers of their their first 3 games of the conference, with 21 points and 13 rebounds. JP Erram registered 12 points and 9 boards. 

Barako Bull will be back in action on Friday, May 15, when they take on the reigning Commissioner’s Cup champions Talk ’N Text, who eliminated the Energy in the playoffs of each of the last two conferences. 

“You know, these first two games have been kind of like warm-up games for our opponent on Friday, the champs of last conference,” said McMorrow.

“We gotta get ready for them. We’re going to get back to work and get ready to up our physicality for our game and I think we’ll be okay. We just gotta keep playing hard, that’s it.” 

The Tropang Texters are currently taking on Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in their conference debut. Their two best locals, Ranidel de Ocampo and Jayson Castro, are both out of action due to various injuries. Their status for Friday is still uncertain. 

Talk ’N Text rookie Kevin Alas is expected to miss a month of action due to an ankle injury. 

Blackwater will look to snap their losing streak on Saturday, May 16, when they face Barangay Ginebra in Dipolog City. 

Scores: 

BARAKO (105): McMorrow 23, Lastimosa 18, Intal 17, Yeo 8, Maierhofer 7, Hubalde 6, Garcia 4, Pascual 4, Lanete 4, Wilson 4, Sorongon 4, Ababou 3, Chua 2, Forrester 1, Salva 0

BLACKWATER (90): Douthit 21, Erram 12, Heruela 12, Gamalinda 12, Cervantes 9, Salvacion 9, Ballesteros 4, Celiz 3, Bulawan 3, Acuna 3, Reyes 2, Laure 0

Quarter Scoring: 32-11, 55-42, 87-65, 105-90 

– Rappler.com