BLACKWATER kept its quarterfinals aspirations in the PBA Governors' Cup with a king-sized 111-94 upset of all-Filipino San Miguel Beer Saturday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Pouncing on the hole left by the absence of SMB reinforcement Jordan Adams due to hamstring injury, the Bossing's efficient import George King wreaked havoc with 49 big points to go with 11 rebounds.
King knocked down four booming buckets from the four-point arc and added a pair more from three-point territory to highlight his explosive outing that towed Blackwater to a 4-5 record and a tie for fourth in Group B with NLEX.
The Bossing and the Road Warriors are locked in a race for the last available ticket for the playoffs in this group with two playdates left in group play.
But for Jeff Cariaso's charges to advance, they need two things to happen.
First, NLEX must get stuck at four wins and lose to and drop its last elims assignment against quarterfinalist Ginebra (6-3) Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. And then the Bossing have to pluck their fifth victory against Rain or Shine (7-2) on Monday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
"We want to stay alive tonight and that's what happened," said Cariaso, whose charges ended a four-game losing streak against SMB dating back to the 2023 Governors' Cup on their way to the live-saving W.
"We're just going to pray that what's meant to be is going to happen. We'll just do our job and prepare for Monday's game against Rain or Shine 'coz that's the only thing we can control," said Cariaso.
Sedrick Barefield (14) and Justin Chua (nine) led the local support for Blackwater, which took an early 30-21 upperhand before extending its lead to a high of 25 at 107-82.
Minus Adams, the Beermen (6-4) leaned heavily on June Mar Fajardo (23 and 12) and CJ Perez (21-8).
With this result, SMB would take either the second or third seeding going in the Last-8, depending on Ginebra's final record. (OL)
The scores:
Blackwater 111 - King 49, Barefield 14, Chua 9, David 6, Rosario 6, Kwekuteye 5, Ilagan 4, Casio 4, Escoto 4, Jopia 4, Suerte 4, Corteza 2, Mitchell 0, Ponferrada 0, Montalbo 0.
San Miguel 94 - Fajardo 23, Perez 21, Romeo 15, Lassiter 5, Rosales 5, Trollano 5, Cruz 4, Brondial 4, Nava 4, Teng 4, Manuel 2, Jimenez 2, Ross 0.
Quarterscores: 30-21, 52-43, 85-72, 111-94
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