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BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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February 10, 2018
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MANILA – Blackwater Elite got back on the winning track in the PBA Philippine Cup in style after shocking league-leader San Miguel Beermen 106-96 last night at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.
Michael Digregorio led the way with conference-high 26 points, including five 3-point conversions, while John Paul Erram had double-double 24 points and 18 rebounds for Elite (3-5).
After dropping its last five matches, Elite came out with a different determination against Beermen as it created distance from a close match in the third frame with outside hits from Digregorio and Allein Maliksi for a 68-61 lead.
Beermen kept the game close 80-82 early in the fourth but Elite responded via rookie Emil Renz Palma, Erram and Digregorio to increase the advantage 92-81.
Beermen made its last push to come to within 92-98 on a triple by Arwind Santos but 8 straight points from Digregorio – including two outside shots – gave Elite its largest lead 106-92.
“We were extremely blessed in today’s match,” said Elite head coach Leo Isaac. “We were able to contain their scorers. It’s a good wakeup call. Finally we’re able to get the hump.”
Santos led with 22 points, Chris Ross added 20 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, while June Mar Fajardo struggled with 12 points and 13 rebounds for Beermen (6-2).
In the second game, Kiefer Ravena scored a game-winning basket as NLEX Road Warriors erased a 10-point fourth quarter deficit to score 87-85 against Meralco Bolts.
With the scores tied 85-all after a 3-point play by Bolts’ Chris Newsome, Ravena drained a turnaround fall-away basket for Road Warriors to surge 87-85 with 0.09 seconds left.
“He is shooting like a 10-year PBA veteran so I did not hesitate to draw a play for him in the endgame,” Road Warriors head coach Yeng Guiao said of Ravena, who led NLEX with 21 points.
Trailing 72-82 midway in the final quarter, NLEX unloaded an 11-0 run behind Larry Fonacier, Michael Miranda and Kiefer Ravena to lead 83-82. This grew to 85-82 on two free throws by JR Quiñahan./PN
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