GEORGE King once again delivered as Blackwater continued a remarkable turnaround with a 110-99 victory over NLEX at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Friday, extending its winning streak to three in the PBA 49th Season Governors’ Cup.
King finished with 39 points, including dagger shots in the final quarter for the Bossing who, since bringing in the replacement import have evened their win-loss record to 3-3 after dropping their first three Group B games with Ricky Ledo.
NLEX, on the other hand, fell to its second straight loss after a huge win over San Miguel last Saturday in Cagayan De Oro.
King also had 15 rebounds and five assists while Troy Rosario added 15 points and 14 rebounds. Sedrick Barefield had 14 pooints and five assists for the Bossing, who matched their three-game win streak from the Philippine Cup last season.
“We are fortunate to have won the last three games, but we feel like our backs are still against the wall, so we need to keep pushing,” said Blackwater coach Jeff Cariaso.
Blackwater led by as many as 20 points at 66-46 but did a good job of protecting the gap after a couple of NLEX runs. NLEX’s last charge was a 5-0 blitz capped by a Robert Bolick reverse lay-up that trimmed the gap to 98-91.
But King had 14 points in the fourth including a four-pointer that brough the lead back to 12, 104-92, with 2:53 remaining. A fade away shot by King at the 1:34 mark that got Blackwater ahead 106-94, inspired a 'wearing the crown' celebration.
Myke Henry finished with 26 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, and three steals for the Road Warriors. Bolick flirted with a triple double after notching 21 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists but NLEX was unable to rebound from a 119-91 defeat to Barangay Ginebra.
The scores:
Blackwater 110 – King 39, Rosario 15, Barefield 14, Ilagan 13, Chua 11, David 10, Kwekuteye 4, Mitchell 2, Escoto 2, Hill 0, Ponferrada 0.
NLEX 99 – Henry 26, Bolick 21, Herndon 18, Valdez 8, Policarpio 7, Amer 6, Nermal 4, Miranda 3, Marcelo 2, Fajardo 2, Anthony 2.
Quarters: 28-21; 61-44; 84-73; 110-99.
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