PBA-DL: Boracay Rum Waves force winner-take-all versus Blackwater for Finals spot

The Boracay Rum Waves forced a do-or-die game three for a PBA-DL Foundation Cup Finals spot as they scored a 69-65 win over Blackwater Sports, Thursday at the Blue Eagle Gym.

Blackwater had won 79-69, Tuesday and  hoped to sweep their way to the end, but the Waves dominated the game from the start.

Boracay Rum did have to quell a huge rally try by their foes in the fourth quarter, but still held firm late.

"Sa mga laban na walang nang bukas, dun lumalabas yung laro namin," said Boracay Rum head coach Lawrence Chongson. "All conference long, never kami natalo ng back-to-back games."

With the game seemingly in the bag for the Waves, Kevin Ferrer connected with two triples to trigger a belated Blackwater rally, but there wasn't enough time left for them to fully turn the tables on their foes.

"Yung dalawang three-points ni Ferrer, wala ka ng magagawa dun," said Chongson of the shots. "Buti naman napasok namin yung free throws nung huli."

Maclean Sabellina rescued the Waves in the fourth quarter amid a searing Blackwater Sports rally. He scored 10 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter to keep his side's heads above water.

"He played the fireman's role today," Chongson said about Sabelline. "He kept us alive."

The Boracay Rum Waves knew that they need to play a nearly perfect game to extend their semifinals series against Blackwater Sports. They showed their sense of urgency as they jumped the gun in the first quarter.

Ken Acibar scored nine points in the first quarter to lead the Waves to a 16-9 start. Boracay Rum also dominated the boards as they got 15 caroms compared to only 10 for Blackwater Sports.

Blackwater Sports wasted no time in getting back into the game in the second canto. They came within two points of the Waves, just four minutes gone by in the period, but Jonathan Fernandez caught fire to rebuild Boracay Rum's lead. The former PBA player canned a three-pointer, followed by a running banker to give the Waves a 29-20 lead.

Raymund Ilagan then scored down low to extend the Waves' lead to 11.

Justin Chua tried to bring Blackwater back, but Ken Acibar nailed a top of the key trey with 1:15 left in the first half for a 35-25 count in Boracay Rum's favor. Two points more from each side finished out the half with the Waves holding a 35-27 lead.

Acibar led all scorers with 12 points at the half. Fernandez and Ilagan added five points apiece for the Waves.

Robby Celiz top-scored for Blackwater with six points at the break as Chua, Louie Vigil, and Gio Ciriacruz adding five points each.


Maclean Sabellina opened the third quarter with a dunk to give his team a 10-point lead, 37-27.

Kevin Ferrer scored on a lay-up at the 6:68 mark to trim the Boracay Rum lead down to five points at 38-33, but Paolo Taha got a put-back on the other side to bump Boracay Rum's lead up to seven points.

After another Ferrer basket, Acibar and Marcy Arellano scored five straight points for Boracay Rum to give their team another 10-point buffer at 45-35.

Jaymo Eguilos scored with four seconds left in the third quarter to give the Waves their biggest lead of the game at 53-41, just a quarter remaining.

In the final period, Gio Ciriacruz cleaned up after his own miss to bring the Boracay Rum lead down to nine at 54-45 with still more than seven minutes left in the game.

Free throws from Allan Mangahas got Blackwater to within six points halfway into the fourth quarter. A Chua put-back then got them closer at the 4:26 mark, as the Waves were starting to unravel. The offensive rebounds Boracay Rum got were suddenly nowhere to find.

On their next trip on offense, Blackwater got even closer thanks to a Mangahas jumper. Sabellina finally stopped the bleeding for the Waves at the 3:11 mark for a 58-54 count in Boracay Rum's favor.

Sabellina and Mangahas exchanged made free throws, but Sabellina got the better end of the duel as he added two long jumpers for a seven-point Waves advantage with less than two minutes remaining in the game.

With the Waves starting to relax, thinking that it was already a won ball game, Ferrer swished a pair of triples for Blackwater Sports to cut down the Boracay Rum lead to two points at 67-65, with only 16.9 second left in the game.

Fernandez was immediately fouled, but he proceeded to make both his free throws to seal the win for Boracay Rum.

Ferrer and Gio Ciriacruz led Blackwater Sports with 14 apiece while Robby Celiz added 11.

Boracay Rum dominated the battle of the boards. They got 56 rebounds compared to only 41 for Blackwater. The Waves also got 11 second-chance points off 22 offensive rebounds, while Blackwater only managed 15 markers.

"Hindi kami puwedeng mag-diwang kasi may game three pa," Chongson said. That match will be on Tuesday, still at the Blue Eagle Gym. - AMD, GMA News


The scores:

Boracay Rum 69: Acibar 14, Sabellina 14, Fernandez 9, Eguilos 7, Ilagan 7, Arellano 5, Siruma 4, Tagarda 3, Pasculado 2, Cabrera 2, Taha 2, Viernes 0

Blackwater Sports 65: Ferrer 14, Ciriacruz 14, Celiz 11, Chua 7, Vigil 7, Suguitan 6, Mangahas 5, Austria 1, Bagatsing 0, Pe 0, llagas 0

Quarter scores: 16-9, 35-27, 53-41, 69-65