BLACKWATER prolific import George King, all alone in a fast break play in the third quarter, opted to go for a 360-slam dunk instead of a sure layup against Terrafirma last night.
In what turned out to be a comic end to the play, King failed to gather enough lift in his jump and missed the shot.
But King and the Bossing persevered and scored a 96-86 victory over the hapless Dyip to stay alive in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.
NorthPort and Rain or Shine try to get back on track when they tangle today while Magnolia and Phoenix clash in the second game at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig.
King redeemed himself from his booboo and boomed in a three-pointer that pulled Blackwater to within 63-65 with 3:21 to go and typified the Bossing’s fortitude despite trailing by 10 early on.
Blackwater coach Jeff Cariaso was glad his charges showed up with a sense of urgency.
“No doubt we were better tonight. We feel like there has to be a focus and we always talk about our defense because that itself will generate our offense and get us into where we want to be quicker,” Cariaso said. “The only thing I told them was we get stops and that will give you opportunities to attack and that happened.
“That itself is already a motivation—the fact you lost four in a row that again is a motivation. I think despite who you gonna be up against tonight, it just happened it was Terrafirma, the idea was to keep pushing,” he added.
King tallied a double-double of 26 points and 12 rebounds, to go with three assists while Justin Chua chipped in 17 markers and 12 boards.
Mike Ayonayon and Jaydee Tungcab also had 15 and 11 points, respectively, as Blackwater checked a four-game losing skid that included a 63-86 defeat to Ginebra last Sunday and improved to 2-7.
Terrafirma could not atone for an 84-89 setback at the hands of the Hotshots Friday last week and remained winless with a 0-10 slate.
The Bossing fell 45-49 at the half but took the driver’s seat from the Dyip 71-67 heading into the final stanza.
A Rey Suerte jumper pushed Blackwater’s lead to as much as 84-71 at the 8:20 mark of the fourth.
Reinforcement Brandon Edwards scored 29 points and hauled down 16 caroms for Terrafirma while Louie Sangalang and Brent Paraiso got 17 and 12 markers, respectively.
Cariaso is hoping it will not be a case of too little, too late for the Bossing.
