WINNING LIKE A BOSS: Barefield fuels Blackwater’s late-game assault

Sedrick Barefield delivered at crunch time to rescue Blackwater from a fourth quarter meltdown for a 123–111 victory over listless Phoenix in Group B of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup Tuesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Bossing spoiled the impressive debut of new Fuel Masters import Brandone Francis by weathering Phoenix’s scorching 20-4 rally in the fourth period to end the opening half of the double-round pool stage with back-to-back wins for a 2-3 win-loss record.

Barefield stopped Blackwater’s fourth quarter bleeding when the Fuel Masters dismantled a 21-point wall to just five, 109-104, with 5:07 left with six straight points to bring order back.

The No. 2 pick in the last Draft put up a conference personal-best 32 points off 11-of-20 field goal shooting including four triples with his last trey pushing the Bossing’s advantage to 122-109 with 1:10 left in the game.

Barefield, who celebrated his last triple imitating Golden State Warriors’ start Steph Curry’s “night, night” gesture, added five assists.

“I feel like I’m just being more of myself. And that comes with trust in my guys, my teammates and coach. We did our jobs in a high level today,” Barefield said.

“This is attributed to just trust in my guys and just hard work.”

George King gave Blackwater its biggest lead, 105-84, just a minute in into the final canto.

The Bossing got a little bit too relaxed and Phoenix took advantage of the opening to mount a scary counterattack led by Francis, who replaced Ricky Ledo.

Francis, who made a strong introduction with 45 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, cut the Fuel Masters’ deficit to five before Barefield’s heroics handed Phoenix its fourth straight loss in as many starts.

King had 44 points and 13 boards for Blackwater while RK Ilagan and Troy Rosario had 14 and 12, respectively.

The opening half was fought in a battle of spurts.

Blackwater got off to an early 10-point lead in the first quarter before Phoenix made a 13-7 closing run to cut it to just a four-point separation after the initial 12 minutes of action.

It was more of the same in the second period with the Fuel Masters taking a 52-44 advantage only for the Bossing to fire back with a counterattack.

A Ricci Rivero bucket gave Phoenix a 58-52 lead with 2:22 left in the second period which turned out to be the Fuel Masters’ last basket of the half as Blackwater uncorked a fiery 12-0 closing barrage to enter the half with a 64-58 lead.

Jason Perkins was the only other Fuel Masters player in double figures with 29 points.

The Scores:

BLACKWATER (123) — King 44, Barefield 32, Ilagan 14, Rosario 12, David 8, Escoto 6, Chua 4, Kwukuteye 3, Guinto 0, Mitchell 0, Montalbo 0, Suerte 0, Ponferrada 0.

PHOENIX (111) — Francis 45, Perkins 29, Garcia 8, Manganti 7, Tio 5, Mocon 4, Ballungay 4, Muyang 3, Salado 2, Rivero 2, Soyud 2, Alejandro 0, Jazul 0, Daves 0, Tuffin 0, Verano 0.

Quarters: 27-23, 64-58, 103-84, 123-111.