When the two worst teams in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup faced off Wednesday, pride was the biggest issue inside Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
That notion wasn’t lost on the minds of coach Jeffrey Cariaso and the Blackwater Bossing, who came away with a 96-86 decision over a Terrafirma Dyip team that remained the only midseason conference team without victory to show.
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“That in itself was already a motivation,” Cariaso admitted after the Bossings won for only the second time in nine matches, ending a four-game losing streak.
“Losing four in a row is already motivation despite who we’re facing, which happens to be Terrafirma. (But) the idea was to keep pushing,” Cariaso added.
Import George King produced his usual scores, scoring 26 after converting nine of 31 shots from inside and outside, while Justin Chua, Jaydee Tungcab and Mike Ayonayon came off the bench to spark the triumph for Blackwater.
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Blackwater won for the first time since Dec. 12, when it ended Meralco’s 3-0 start in eliminations, and still has a slim hope of reaching the quarterfinals.
The Bossings need to sweep their final three games – against the Converge FiberXers on Sunday, the Phoenix Fuel Masters on January 21 and leader NorthPort Batang Pier on January 25, all at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City – to at least have a chance of catching up with their delay. with other quarter-final contenders.
San Miguel Beer currently sits in 8th place at 4-4, NLEX was facing TNT at press time in an effort to end its own four-game slide and improve on a 3-5 win-loss slate while Phoenix (3-5) and Magnolia (3-6) face off on Thursday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
Eliminated
Terrafirma became the first team to be eliminated from the playoffs after falling to 0-10 with two to play. The only motivation he has is to avoid a winless conference, something the franchise has done multiple times in the past.
Import Brandon Edwards had 29 points and 16 rebounds for the Dyip, whose chances of securing at least one victory are very slim with Hong Kong Eastern this coming Friday at Philsports and TNT on January 22 at Ynares Antipolo.
For now, Blackwater can settle for a rare victory in the midst of a difficult campaign.
Star recruit Sedrick Barefield missed the previous three games with a foot injury while RK Ilagan was also sidelined, contributing to Blackwater’s woes.
“This conference has not been easy for us,” Cariaso said. “But I like to say that our will, our intensity and our state of mind are always challenged. And we have to understand that that was part of basketball and that was one of the things that I was expressing to the boys.
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“And tonight they stepped up and they were ready. I told them that tonight was a match to be won, it’s quite simple,” he added.
Chua had 17 points and 12 rebounds in perhaps his best game since returning from an ACL injury in April 2024, while Ayonayon and Tungcab both provided the spark for Bossing with 15 and 11 points respectively.
