BLACKWATER sprang a big surprise on Meralco Tuesday and now lives to fight at least another day.
Henry Walker, Allein Maliksi and Roi Sumang delivered the clutch plays in the endgame, resulting in a 92-91 squeaker over the Bolts to forge a deciding game in their PBA Governors Cup quarterfinals duel at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Walker scored 19 of his points in the fourth quarter, but it was Maliksi who nailed a clutch 15-footer that made it 92-91, only 9.5 seconds left.
The Elite's defense held firm and forced a bad shot by the Bolts in the game's final play to complete the shocker.
The deciding game is to be played out Thursday with coach Leo Isaac hoping his charges have enough left to once again go toe-to-toe with the same team which finished runner-up to Ginebra last year.
Sponsored content:
"The bottom line is to challenge the players to face the situation," said Isaac. "But it's not finished yet. We still have another game to win on Thursday and for sure Meralco will be prepared for that."
It was Blackwater's first playoff win since joining the league three years ago and made even more surprising by the fact the No. 8-ranked squad notched it over a Meralco crew which topped the eliminations and needed just one victory to advance to the semifinals.
The Bolts only have themselves to blame for the endgame collapse which came after they overcame an early 10-point deficit but failed to match the Elite's intensity when the game was on the line.
Allen Durham did try, capping his 18-point, 21-rebound and seven-assist performance with a follow-up to give Meralco a 91-90 lead, still 15.8 seconds to go.
"Going to the final 15 seconds, Meralco up by one, our instructions were to have a good shot," related Isaac. "We wanted the ball on Henry Walker but there was an option for Maliksi to come off the top."
Sponsored content:
Maliksi did just that, coming off the weakside, got the pass from Roi Sumang and pulled up for the 15-footer.
The Elite then stuck like glue to the Bolts' main men with the ball ultimately landing on Mike Tolomia, whose one-handed heave from 17 feet was way off.
Walker added 18 rebounds and six assists with Mike Digregorio chipped in 20 points and Maliksi 15.
Sumang only had nine points but his charities off an F1 by Jared Dillinger pushed Blackwater within 88-89, before his steal on Durham resulted in another Maliksi jumper that made it a 90-89 count, still 33.6 ticks to go.
Chris Newsome added 19 and eight rebounds and Cliff Hodge 18 and eight for Meralco, seemed well on its way after taking an 89-86 lead, only to falter in the stretch.
