Blackwater's Sedrick Barefield in action. PBA ImagesMANILA — The Blackwater Bossing came up with crucial stops down the stretch to stun the San Miguel Beermen, 126–120, snapping a four-game skid in the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup on Wednesday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The Bossing lost a 22-point lead to the opposing side, after the Beermen uncorked a 44-point third quarter and surged midway through the frame.
The game turned into a tug-of-war in the fourth, until Sedrick Barefield drilled a crucial triple with 2:15 left to give the Bossing a 120–116 edge.
As the possession went San Miguel's way, still with a lot of time left, Bennie Boatwright tried to tie the game with two attempts from the second arc, to no avail. The San Miguel import missed again later on, as BJ Andrade came through with the steal and a second-chance layup, 1:28 on the clock, to expand the Blackwater advantage to 122-116.
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Boatwright kept the Beermen within striking distance with a dunk off an offensive rebound by June Mar Fajardo, but Andrade once again delivered for Blackwater. He grabbed two offensive rebounds and finished with a reverse layup over the interior defense of Fajardo and Boatwright to make it 124–118.
Marcio Lassiter had two opportunities from four-point range to swing momentum back to San Miguel, but he missed both attempts. Andrade later split his free throws for a 125–120 lead with 18.3 ticks left, but it was still a cushion too large for SMB at that time as Chris Ross piled on the Beermen's woes tonight, totally missing on a four-point shot as he hit only the board to mark Blackwater's return to the win column of the import-laced tourney.
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Robert Upshaw had a monster double-double of 35 points and 17 rebounds, to go with five assists, while Barefield had 29 markers and dished out eight dimes to show the way for the locals.
Christian David chipped in 15 points, while Andrade, who was the Bossing's hero in the final frame, wrapped up the game with 13 points and seven rebounds (five offensive boards).
On the other side, Boatwright had 38 points and 13 rebounds when the dust settled, Fajardo had 28 points and 13 rebounds, while CJ Perez also breached the 20-point territory with 24 as the Beermen's comeback attempt fell flat.
The Scores:
BLACKWATER 126 – Upshow III 35, Barefield 29, David 15, Andrade 13, Zamar 12, Austria 11, Tratter 9, Una 2
SAN MIGUEL 120 – Boatwright 38, Fajardo 28, Perez 24, Lassiter 15, Ross 6, Brondial 4, Tauatuaa 3, Tiongson 2, Cruz 0, Cahilig 0
QUARTERS: 36-23, 65-50, 92-94, 126-120