MANILA – Blackwater Elite leaned on the career game of Bobby Ray Parks Jr. to beat NLEX Road Warriors, 132-106, in the 2019 Honda PBA Commissioner’s Cup last night at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
Parks, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 PBA Rookie Draft, displayed another excellent showing to finish with career-high 29 points as the Elite surged to top spot in the standings with 5-1.
Reinforcement Alex Stepheson chipped in double-double 21 points and 17 rebounds, while Allein Maliksi waxed hot from outside to finish with 21 points for the streaking Elite.
The Elite started strong and went up by as much as 16 points before the Road Warriors ignited a strong third quarter run behind Cyrus Baguio to tie the count at 63-all.
Parks then spearheaded Elite’s pull away with five straight points for a 71-63 lead. He again starred in a 10-0 blast as the Blackwater extend the lead to as high as 132-102 on triples by Matt Salem and James Sena.
“We prepared hard because we want to take care of business. We don’t want to be too much in cloud nine for that four wins that we have. That will be all nothing if we couldn’t get the win,” said Elite head coach Aris Dimaunahan.
Tony Mitchell had double-double 27 points and 11 rebounds, while Cyrus Baguio added 19 markers for the Road Warriors, which remained at last place in the standings with 0-5 win-loss card.
In the second game, TNT KaTropa leaned on its torrid outside shooting to topple San Miguel Beermen.
The KaTropa were already scorching from outside as early as first half with 11 triples. They continued to detonate in the second half as the lead reached its largest at 24.
Terrence Jones has 30 points, 18 rebounds and five blocks, while Troy Rosario added 17 markers for the KaTropa (4-1). Charles Rhodes has 20 points for the Beermen (0-2)./PN
