Shawn Glover. PBA . IMAGES
Blackwater again beat Phoenix on Friday, doing this while it continues to await the return of a key player after a long absence.
“He would be a big addition if he competes, even if it’s 80% of Troy Rosario,” coach Ariel Vanguardia said after Bossing overcame Fuel Masters, 108-105, to take the win. won his first ever Philippine Basketball Association Governor’s Cup—first since last October—at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
The win, bolstered by Shawn Glover’s 31 points, allowed Bossing to beat a streak of seven consecutive losses since the latter part of the Commission’s Cup, with Rosario sidelined with a leg injury.
Vanguardia said Rosario’s return could happen on Wednesday against San Miguel Beer at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City, or during a game against Meralco at Ynares Antipolo on February 4.
Mikey Williams knocked out a three-pointer in the dying seconds to help preserve TNT’s 105-100 comeback win over Rain or Shine as Tropang Giga drew with Converge and Meralco to take an early 2- 0.
Williams came on from the bench for the second straight game and went on to finish with 24 points, including a dagger strike after Elasto Painters cut the gap to two on imported Michael Qualls’ basket. .
Tropang Giga, who also picked up 24 points from imported Jalen Hudson and 22 from RR Pogoy, won despite a slow first half that left them 18 points behind at one point.
Rain or Shine dropped to 0-2, ruining Qualls’ 35-point attempt.
Having Rosario back would be a huge boost for a team that had to contend with injuries during the preseason before a promising start followed by a slump that led to a 3-9 record and early retirement.
stepped up
Baser Amer sat out four of the last five games of the mid-season tournament due to a calf strain, while Jvee Casio has just returned from being sidelined since the Philippine Cup with a groin problem.
The Bossing was also absent from sophomore Joshua Torralba due to a knee injury during the all-Philippines tournament.
Two of those three players stepped up, with Amer scoring 17 points after making 6/10 shots marked by four trebles, while Casio knocked out a key corner jumper at the time. less than a minute, extending Blackwater’s lead to 101-98.
Casio’s timely shot came after Phoenix recovered from imported Du’vaughn Maxwell. The Fuel Master mentor even got into the driver’s seat as Tyler Tio backed away with 1:40 remaining 98-97. “Our number one priority for this conference is health,” said the Blackwater mentor.
It was deja vu for Blackwater after winning a similar seven-board last September 24 by beating Phoenix, 97-85, in the second set of the Commission’s Cup.
important miss
Phoenix also couldn’t avoid the same fate and fell 0-2 in the season-ending game under interim coach Jamike Jarin, who was selected after Topex Robinson left to handle La Salle in UAAP.
Maxwell’s 37 points failed to help Phoenix win, while rookie Tio missed two three-point attempts that could end the game.
“Today I challenged the boys to be tougher,” he said. “We see it as a championship game because it’s going to be very difficult to go 0-2 and it’s also very difficult to come back.”
At one point, The Bossing had a 12-point lead, and the highlight of the end game was the Casio basket featuring the entire Blackwater bench celebrating. Casio finished with just five points as he was slowly trying to regain the form that has made him one of the best goalkeepers in the tournament.
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