BLACKWATER showed steely nerves in the endgame to stun San Miguel Beer, 103-100, and remain unbeaten in the PBA Governors Cup on Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
National team member Poy Erram sank two pressure-packed free throws in the final 19 seconds to give the Elite a three-point lead before the Beermen missed two potential game-tying three-pointers by import AZ Reid and Arwind Santos.
"Thats the game plan, we want to play defense. If we can play defense end of the game and if we can stay close, we can salvage an upset," said coach Bong Ramos. "And that's a big upset tonight."
The Elite improved to a 2-0 record while dealing the Beermen their first loss of the conference.
Import Henry Walker outplayed San Miguel counterpart Arizona Reid, coming away with 35 points, 17 rebounds, five assists, and seven steals.
He had 21 points in the second half and his lone three-pointer of the game gave the Elite a 101-95 lead with 2:30 to play after trailing by as many as 10 late in the third.
But the Beermen wouldn't let Blackwater easily go away.
Rookie Christian Standhardinger scored underneath and Marcio Lassiter buried a stepback three-pointer as San Miguel closed in at 101-100 in the final 34 seconds.
Erram then converted two free throws off a pushing foul by Standhardinger to set up the thrilling finish.
"They were able to recover," said Ramos. "Akala ko nga iiwanan na kami kanina. But the good thing lang dun is that the character of the team was there na wala kami last conference."
Mike Digregorio had 21 points and Nards Pinto with 15 as the two combined for 8-of-13 shooting from three-point range, highlighting the high 46 percent shooting of the Elite from the area.
Erram added 10 and nine rebounds in his first game with the team after the Asian Games.
Reid led San Miguel with 26 points and 12 rebounds, but shot just 10-of-24 from the field and committed seven turnovers.
Standhardinger, taking over the starting center spot from injured June Mar Fajardo, added 20 points while Marcio Lassiter had 13.
The scores:
Blackwater (103) - Walker 35, Digregorio 21, Pinto 15, Erram 10, Zamar 8, Maliksi 6, Jose 4, Belo 2, Al-Hussaini 2, Sumang 0.
San Miguel (100) - Reid 26, Standhardinger 20, Lassiter 13, Cabagnot 12, Nabong 12, Heruela 7, Ross 6, Santos 4.
Quarterscores: 27-25; 43-46: 74-82, 103-100.
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