MANILA – Blackwater Elite overcame an early deficit to pull off a 96-89 victory over NorthPort Batang Pier in the 2020 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup at the AUF Sports Arena & Cultural Center in Pampanga Monday night.
Celedonio Trollano and Shej Roi Sumang tallied 17 points apiece to lead the way for the 1-0 Elite, Rey Mark Belo added 16 markers while Eduardo Daquioag contributed 13 points.
Down by as much as 11 points early in the match, the Elite slowly clawed their way back behind Trollano, Sumang and Belo to take a 34-32 lead. The Batang Pier, however, countered with a rally to surge to a 47-38 halftime lead.
Blackwater started the second half strong on shots from Daquioag, Trollano and Chris Michael Tolomia to tie the count at 58-all before continuing their run with consecutive points from Belo and Sumang for its largest lead at 82-65.
NorthPort went on a huge rally in the fourth quarter to come to as close as 86-90, but a three-pointer by Ron Dennison followed by a fastbreak layup by Daquioag sealed the victory for Blackwater.
Christian Standhardinger finished with double-double 23 points and 10 rebounds, Sean Anthony added 22 markers and 13 boards while Garvo Lanete contributed 14 points for the Batang Pier.
In the first game, Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters rode on a strong third quarter showing by Matthew Wright as they cruise to a 116-98 triumph over Meralco Bolts to give debuting head coach Michael “Topex” Robinson a winning start.
Wright tallied 36 points including a scoring spree to open the third period as the Fuel Masters turned a 53-41 halftime advantage to a 92-63 spread heading into the payoff period.
Bacolodnon center Justin Chua and Jason Perkins contributed 17 points each as the Fuel Masters rises to 1-0 slate. Bacolodnon Reynel Hugnatan tallied 16 markers to lead the Bolts.
BOX SCORE:
BLACKWATER 96 – Trollano 17, Sumang 17, Belo 16, Daquioag 13, Tolomia 8, Magat 8, Desiderio 4, Salem 3, Canaleta 3, Dennison 3, Shaw 2, Golla 2, Gabriel 0, Dario 0.
NORTHPORT 89 – Standhardinger 23, Anthony 22, Lanete 14, Elorde 7, Nabong 7, Taha 5, Manganti 3, Subido 3, Ferrer 3, Cruz 2, Revilla 0.
QUARTERSCORES:
Q1, 21-25; Q2, 38-47; Q3, 79-65; Q4, 96-89./PN
