BLACKWATER'S main men got stymied. But not the rest of the Elite.
With Allein Maliksi taking the lead on offense Blackwater held off Rain or Shine, 98-92, Sunday to bounce back from a stinging loss in the PBA Commissioner's Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
Maliksi finished with 19 points in leading the Elite's balanced offensive that, for once, was not anchored on from Alex Stepheson and Bobby Ray Parks, who both experienced shooting woes.
Still, the two did their part.
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Parks, good for 24 points an outing, wound up with only 16 after going 3-of-10 from the field, but capped a perfect 10-of-10 shooting from the stripes with six crucial free throws in the stretch that helped keep the Elasto Painters at bay.
Stepheson, who came into the game averaging 24.75 points and 23.75 rebounds, delivered a game-high 20 boards but only chipped in 13 markers after making just five of his 11 shots and three of 11 charity tries.
But with the likes of Mike Digregorio, Roi Sumang and Mac Belo doing their part, Blackwater was able to brush off a 98-103 loss to Phoenix Pulse just last Friday and improve to a 4-1 win-loss record overall.
"The challenge really today was how well we'd be focused and how well we could bounce back from a loss," said Elite coach Arid Dimaunahan.
"Tonight they played really, really well as a team. The things na gusto naming mangyari nangyari. We played defense tonight. We only allowed Rain or Shine 92 points. Sa mga nauna naming games we allowed more than 100 points ang kalaban."
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The loss was the second straight for Rain or Shine, despite Denzel Bowles scoring 27 points on top of six rebounds.
James Yap added 15 points and Mark Borboran and Ed Daquioag had 10 apiece, but the E-Painters still failed to negate a 84-91 loss to Meralco in the former's conference debut also last Friday.
In contrast, Digreorio wound up 16 points, 12 more than what he had against Phoenix, Sumang came off the bench for 11 points and a gamehigh seven assists and Belo also found his touch late to help in a 17-1 assault that gave Blackwater its biggest lead at 76-58.
"Ang gusto naming mangyari dito sa team hindi maging one-man show lang," said Dimaunahan. "We want everybody to contribute, not just by scoring but in any way possible."
Rain or Shine did get left in the wake of that massive third quarter surge by Blackwater, but still didn't give up.
At the forefront of the fightback was Bowles, who mustered enough energy to lead the E-Painters' back and whittled the deficit to 90-94 , only to see Digregorio take the cue from Parks and can four pressure-packed charities in the last 15.5 seconds.
Making Dimaunahan more content with his charges' overall efforts is the fact they outrebounded the taller Rain or Shine squad 56-49 and also had 20 assists.
"We wanted to share that ball and we outrebounded them also. So it goes to show that our players are really into it and working together," Dimaunahan noted.
The scores:
Blackwater 98 - Maliksi 19, Digregorio 16, Parks 16, Stepheson 13, Sumang 11, Belo 7, Tratter 4, Al-Hussaini 3, Banal 3, Sena 2, Alolino 2, Desiderio 2, Cortez 0.
Rain or Shine 92 -owles 27, Yap 15, Borboran 10, Daquioag 10, Rosales 8, Norwood 7, Belga 5, Mocon 4, Nambatac 1, Ponferada 0,
Quarters: 241-17, 50-40, 76-60, 98-92.
