Blackwater went on a rampage in the second half to overwhelm NorthPort, 120-98, and barge into the win column of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup Friday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
A searing 40-point third quarter explosion highlighted by a blistering 23-6 run that turned a two-point deficit into a double-digit advantage was all the Bossing needed to snap a two-game funk.
“I think because we got our butts kicked a little bit in our first two games we want to take advantage of the 12 days in between games. For the most part it wasn’t perfect at practice, a lot of challenges but the guys never stopped working hard,” Blackwater coach Jeff Cariaso said after sending NorthPort to back-to-back losses.
“Our focus was to go back to the drawing board and push more. Today it showed,” added the newest member of the PBA 50 Greatest Players club.
Sedrick Barefield finished with 20 points to lead Blackwater, which spoiled the return of the Commissioner’s Cup Best Player of the Conference Arvin Tolentino after missing the Batang Pier’s previous game due to a right hip flexor injury.
Scoreless in the first half, Christian David poured all of his 19 points in the last two quarters and pulled down six rebounds, RK Ilagan scored 17 and dished out eight assists while Richard Escoto added 15 markers for the Bossing.
BJ Adrade contributed with 14 points while Troy Malilin had 10 in Blackwater’s great display of collective team effort.
The Bossing’s bench dropped 60 points compared to just 29 of NorthPort.
“The thing that standout to me the most is that we’re pretty much competitive or even in the rebounds which is something we lost majorly in our first two games. So far, our conference high is 24 assists. When you share the ball, move the ball good things happen,” Cariaso said as his team pulled down 52 boards and tallied 24 assists.
It was all over but the shouting when Blackwater erected a 27-point separation after Ilagan drilled a trey for a 104-77 count with 7:03 remaining in what started as a tight game that eventually turned into a blowout.
Trailing, 51-53, after a Tolentino triple with just two minutes into the third, the Bossing unleashed a telling run to open a 74-59 gap with 4:34 left in the period. The Bossing was never threatened after that.
Unlike in their first two games, the Bossing kept the game close in the first half after trailing by eight early in the opening quarter.
Barefield and Malilin carried Blackwater in the seesaw battle in the first 24 minutes of action, which saw the lead change hands 11 times.
The Bossing entered the intermission with a slim 48-47 advantage following a 5-0 closing run in the second quarter capped by a pair of charities from Barefield.
Blackwater’s bench mob fueled its first half offense with 32 points compared to a measly eight from its counterpart.
Joshua Munzon paced NorthPort with 27 points and seven rebounds.
Will Navarro got 24 markers and 11 rebounds while Tolentino had 15 points on a cold 6-of-17 field goal shooting.
BLACKWATER (120) — Barefield 20, David 19, Ilagan 17, Escoto 15, Andrade 14, Mallilin 10, Ayonayon 9, Guinto 7, Tungcab 5, Chua 2, Tratter 2, Casio 0.
NORTHPORT (98) — Munzon 27, Navarro 24, Tolentino 15, Bulanadi 12, Jalalon 7, Onwubere 6, Cuntapay 3, Flores 3, Yu 1, Nelle 0, Kwekuteye 0, Taha 0.
QUARTERS: 20-22, 48-47, 88-74, 120-98.