PBA-DL: Blackwater ends NLEX's reign, wins 2013 Foundation Cup

(Updated 5:27pm) The Blackwater Sports Elite lived up to their name, sweeping the defending champions NLEX Road Warriors to win the 2013 PBA D-League Foundation Cup championship, 80-74, on Tuesday at the Ynares Sports Arena.

In their first trip to the PBA-DL Finals, Blackwater had previously won game one 70-67, last Thursday, rallying back from a 14-point deficit to go up in the best-of-three series.

"We've proven that any team can win this. All you have to do is believe in your players and believe in the system," gushed Elite head coach Leo Isaac after the game.

He added that his gamble with a 2-3 zone in the second half paid off and dampened the Road Warriors' scoring. "I told them heading into the fourth quarter, 'We can't win this if we lose our composure. We have to play it possession by possession, make stops and get good shots.'"

The Road Warriors used a 14-5 turnover spread to their advantage in the first half en route to a 58-40 lead in the opening minutes of the third. But just like game one, Blackwater Sports mounted a major comeback after halftime and went on an 18-2 run to draw within two points, 62-60, entering the final frame.

With the game tied at 72-72, Blackwater Sports called for time, and after exchanging misses, Allan Mangahas made a tough leaner to take a two-point lead. RR Garcia then fumbled a lay-up for NLEX, while Chua cleaned up a Mangahas miss on the other end, 76-72, with 41 seconds remaining.

NLEX then regrouped and this time, Jake Pascual finished a Garcia miss in the lane. But when the ball went the other way, a loose ball foul on Robby Celiz was called on Ronald Pascual. Celiz missed the second free throw, 77-74, with the attempt falling out of bounds as players scrambled for the rebound. The officials reviewed the play and awarded possession to the Road Warriors with 20.7 seconds on the clock.

Nico Salva drove to the rim but his shot was deflected out of bounds. With 12 seconds left, Blackwater crowded NLEX's shooters on the perimeter, forcing Ronald Pascual to heave one up that missed the rim entirely. Kevin Ferrer secured the ball and was fouled with 1.2 seconds left and split. Pari Llagas then threw in the missed free throw to pad the margin of victory.

NLEX had previously come out on top of all four conferences, prior to this one.

Celiz led all scorers with 20 points, including 14 in the second half, to go with five rebounds. Justin Chua added 17 points and six boards, while Allan Mangahas notched 13 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. Kevin Ferrer and Pari Llagas scattered 12 and 11 points, respectively, and combined for 17 rebounds.

Isaac fielded just eight players in the match-up, preferring their focused output in the championship-clinching game. "Sabi ko sa kanila saka na tayo magpahinga, pagkatapos manalo ng championship."

Blackwater Sports rallied from a 14-point deficit in the first half to snare a close win in game one, 70-67.

In the first quarter, Blackwater Sports paid for sloppy ball handling as the Road Warriors racked up eight easy points in the open court. Triples, however, by Kevin Ferrer and Robby Celiz kept them close behind, 15-12.

The Road Warriors managed to score against the Elite's tough defense as Nico Salva cut to the rim off a pick-and-roll, and RR Garcia buried a three-pointer after an offensive rebound. On the other hand, Blackwater Sports couldn't buy a basket as several easy shots rolled out of the hoop, and they trailed 22-21 after the first period.

Kevin Alas and Garvo Lanete took turns burning the Elite's defense in the second quarter, and the pair carved up the lane with a 16-4 run. While NLEX's interior defense relegated slashers like Gio Ciriacruz to shooting from the charity stripe, Alas capped their run with a sweeping reverse lay-up to create a 38-25 spread.

Justin Chua made one from the elbow to give Blackwater Sports their only field goal of the quarter, answering a Salva jumper on the other end, with five minutes to play. Still the Elite persisted with getting inside and began to shoot better from the free throw line, as split freebies by Pari Llagas brought the deficit to 10, 44-34, with under three minutes left.

However, the Road Warriors heaped on another 8-1 rally, highlighted by Baser Amer looping one high off the glass, before Chua canned a triple with 25 seconds left to trail 52-38 at halftime.

Lanete and Alas combined for 18 of NLEX's 30-point output in the second quarter, on a 9-of-10 shooting clip. The Road Warriors made 24-of-44 (54.5 percent) of their field goals in the first half, while Blackwater Sports was limited to just 10-of-28 (35.7 percent).

Blackwater Sports did shoot 15-of-20 (75 percent) from the free throw line compared to the Road Warriors' 3-of-7 mark (42.9 percent), but they turned the ball over 14 times compared to NLEX's five, resulting in a 24-3 disadvantage in turnover points.

An and-one by Greg Slaughter gave NLEX their biggest lead at the onset of the third, 58-40. The Elite though powered through, playing improved defense to overcome their own sloppy ball handling. While the Road Warriors couldn't buy a bucket in the half court, Celiz added his second three-pointer of the game, scoring nine points in an 18-2 rally to get within four, 60-58.

Jake Pascual scored on a put-back with under two minutes left, ending a five and a half minute drought for the Road Warriors, who limped into the fourth quarter with a 62-60 lead.

NLEX's scoring woes carried over into the fourth period as they were still unable to buy a basket. Chua and his array of moves strained the Road Warriors' defense, as he scored eight in a 9-2 swing to seize a 69-64 lead.

The Road Warriors began to stir when defensive stops fueled their game with under four minutes to play. Long canned a trey, and successive finishes by Salva and Amer in transition completed an 8-2 swing, knotting the game at 72-72 with two minutes and change to play, setting up the winning sequence for the Elite.

Blackwater Sports wound up shooting better from the field in the entire game, finishing with a 26-of-61 (42.6 percent) mark to go with 23-of-34 (67.6 percent) free throws.

The Road Warriors dipped to 7-of-43 shooting (16.3 percent) in the second half, finishing with a 31-of-87 mark overall (35.6 percent). NLEX also shot 10-of-18 (55.6 percent) from the free throw line.

NLEX led in second-chance points (14-10) off a 22-11 advantage in offensive rebounding, though Blackwater had more boards overall, 51-49. The Road Warriors kept their lead in turnover points, 26-11.

Nico Salva led NLEX with 14 points, four rebounds and five assists on 7-of-13 shooting. Garvo Lanete added 12 points and five rebounds, while Greg Slaughter registered 11 points and nine rebounds.

Prior to the game, NLEX big man Jake Pascual was feted as Best Player of the Conference. - AMD, GMA News


The scores:

Blackwater Sports 80: Celiz 20, Chua 17, A Mangahas 13, K Ferrer 12, Llagas 11, Ciriacruz 7, Bagatsing 0, Austria 0

NLEX 74: Salva 14, Lanete 12, Slaughter 11, Long 9, Alas 8, Garcia 7, J Pascual 6, Amer 5, Villarias 2, Ganuelas 0, R Pascual 0, Camson 0, Taganas 0

Quarter scoring: 21-22, 38-52, 60-62, 80-74