Blackwater survives Boracay Rum's late rally
Blackwater, after building a sizeable lead, survived Boracay Rum's late scare as it defeated the rookie squad, 68-65, Thursday in the opening day of the PBA D-League Aspirants Cup at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
Neil Pascual finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds and made the marginal three-point play to preserve the victory for the Elite, who beefed up their line-up with acquisition of several UAAP and NCAA collegiate standouts.
Pascual did most of the dirty work and it paid dividends when he grabbed Gio Ciriacruz's miss to score a putback with 40.9 seconds left in the game.
Blackwater had to endure Boracay Rum's fourth-quarter comeback after enjoying double-digit leads for most parts of the game.
"Two weeks before the opening, we still weren't a complete team because of schedule conflicts. But the good thing is that they respect each other," said Blackwater coach Leo Isaac.
Boracay Rum was staring at a 58-48 lead early in the fourth when Melvin Baloran, Jaymo Eguilos and Stephen Siruma joined hands to cut the deficit to four points before Kokoy Hermosisima's three-pointer tied the game at 63-all with 1:33 left in the contest.
Pascual and Glenn Khobuntin exchanged baskets but the former had the final say as he scored a three-point play to seal Blackwater's win.
The Elite beefed up their roster acquiring the likes of Jeric Fortuna from University of Santo Tomas, Mark Bringas of Far Eastern University and Sam Marata from La Salle to join Arellano standouts brothers Gio and Isiah Ciriacruz, Rocky Acidre and Mark Doligon. — JVP, GMA News
Scores:
Blackwater 68—Pascual 15, Marata 11, I. Ciriacruz 9, Fortuna 9, Acidre 5, Bautista 5, G. Ciriacruz 4, Tan 4, Afuang 4, Doligon 2, Villanuivea 0, Bringas 0.
Boracay Rum 65—Khobuntin 18, Eguilos 12, Siruma 9, Baloran 9, Cornejo 7, Hermo 5, Bandaying 3, Abaya 2, Rosopa 0, Terso 0, Morial 0, Sabellina 0.
Quarter scores: 20-9, 38-28, 56-47, 68-65.
Source: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/236051/sports/blackwater-survives-boracay-rums-late-rally
