BLACKWATER won't be derailed from its immediate target and even picked up a couple of bonuses in the process.
Bobby Ray Parks and Roi Sumang led the gritty Elite down the stretch as they notched a 112-104 victory over hard-luck Alaska Sunday to officially claim the third-seeding heading to the PBA Commissioner's Cup playoffs at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Sumang scored eight of his 18 points and Parks five of his game-high 25 in the payoff period in enabling Blackwater to finish the elimination round with a best-ever 7-4 win-loss record.
It is also the highest finish ever in the elims for the Dioceldo Sy-owned franchise as it bounced back from a dead-last windup in the last Philippine Cup while also securing a first-ever best-of-three duel with the sixth-ranked team in the eight-team quarterfinals.
"Congratulations to our owners, Dioceldo Sy and Silliman Sy," said Elite coach Aris Dimaunahan. "We all know we finished last in the Philippine Cup pero hindi sila nawalan ng tiwala sa amin. We thank them for that. Also, the players for really sticking with each other, embracing the game plan, doing the game plan to the letter.
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"Again, there were lapses, pero it doesn't matter as long as they stick together, their effort was there."
Unlike in last season's Governors Cup, where it came in as No. 5 with a twice-to-win handicap, Blackwater now looks forward to the next round and its latest victory should serve it in good stead, said Dimaunahan.
"We want to get a win going to the playoffs para meron kaming kompiyansa," related Dimaunahan, who took over just before the mid-season conference started.
The loss, its fifth straight that dropped it to 4-7, could be a costly one for Alaska.
The Aces are actually now tied with Phoenix Pulse at eighth on identical slates but dropped to ninth due to their previous loss to the Fuel Masters.
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The best Alaska could hope for is that it remains tied for the last quarterfinals berth and gets to play off for that spot.
Meralco and Columbian are also both at 3-7 with the Dyip facing Ginebra later Sunday and the Bolts taking on San Miguel Beer at elims end on Wednesday.
Even if the Kings beat the Dyip and also wind up with a 7-4 record, they would still have to settle for fourth due to a loss to the Elite last May 24.
Blackwater is now savoring its lofty placing, thanks largely to Parks, who also wound up with 10 rebounds and eight assists, leading a balanced scoring that saw five other Elite finishing with at least 12 points each.
Diamon Simpson led Alaska with 24 points, 18 rebounds and eight dimes with Chris Banchero adding 18, Sonny Thoss and Vic Manuel 15 each and Jeron Teng 11 markers.
It's just that the breaks won't go the Aces' way in the stretch of a game that had nine deadlocks, the last at 93-all.
Thoss' charity split brought Alaska within 104-106, but Rabeh Al-Hussaini trickled in a shotclock-beating triple that stretched the lead back up to five, 78 seconds left.
Then Thoss threw an errant pass in traffic which Sumang translated into a jumper before canning a game-clinching free throw following a miss and another turnover by Alaska.
Making Blackwater's win more impressive is the fact it went for some eight minutes in the fourth period without Staphon Blair, who suffered cramps on his eft leg. He went out with 9:15 to go and returned with just 1:45 eft to play, eventually finishing with 14 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots.
Allein Maliksi and Mac Belo helped the Elite stay afloat in their import's absence, with the former tying the game for the last time with a charity and then converting on a short stab off a fastbreak to shove their team ahead for good 95-93.
Belo's back-to-back baskets gave Blackwater a 99-96 lead before Sumang boomed in a triple that gave the team its biggest spread yet at 102-96, 3:42 remaining. (NC)
The scores:
Blackwater 112 - Parks 25, Sumang 18, Maliksi 15, Blair 14, Belo 13, Al-Hussaini 12, Digregorio 6, Desiderio 4, Cortez 3, Sena 2, Alolino 0.
Alaska 104 - Simpson 24, Banchero 18, Thoss 15, Manuel 15, Teng 11, Enciso 9, Casio 6, Racal 4, Pascual 2, Exciminiano 0, Cruz 0.
Quarterscores: 27-32, 56-55, 80-78, 112-104.
