Blackwater eliminates Powerade in PBA D-League

Blackwater eliminated Junior Powerade, 70-66, in a knockout playoff game in the PBA D-League Foundation Cup on Thursday at The Arena in San Juan City. The Elite eliminated the Tigers and will next face the Max! Bond Super Glue Sumos in the quarterfinal phase of the tournament. Blackwater took advantage of Junior Powerade’s slow start and led by 10 points after one quarter behind the steady outside shooting of captain Gio Ciriacruz, who finished with 21 markers and seven rebounds, and wingman Adrian Celada. The Tigers were coming off a physically and emotionally draining knockout game against Café France last Tuesday. James Martinez and a still-injured Carlo Gomez hit their stride in the second period to cut the deficit to five, 35-30, at the turn. The Elite played more aggressive in the third and even enjoyed a 48-33 spread early in the period. Junior Powerade picked up their pace halfway in the third with Alvin Padilla, Mark Jeffries, Brian Ilad and John Smith draining timely baskets to give the Tigers a slim 51-50 lead. Blackwater then turned to outside gunners Ian Mazo and Ciriacruz in the final quarter to keep Junior Powerade at bay. The Tigers threatened for the last time with Mike Gamboa scoring on a putback for a 68-66 count with 58 seconds left in the game clock. They made a defensive stop at the other end as Ilad blocked Ciriacruz’ lay-up try to get the ball back. Powerade coach Ricky Dandan called a timeout to map out a final play in the hope of sending the game into overtime or winning the match with a three-pointer. But the Blackwater defense forced Padilla to miss his three-point try, with Elite guard Rocky Acidre grabbing the rebound and was fouled by Martinez. Acidre made both free throws for the final tally. "Alam naman nung mga players ‘yung sitwasyon at talagang ayaw pa nilang umuwi (My players know what’s our situation and they don’t want to go on an early vacation)," said Elite mentor Leo Isaac after the game. "Ngayon paghahandaan naman namin itong Max! Bond na talagang one of the top teams sa Group B. We’ll prepare for them the same way we prepared for this game (We’re going to prepare against Max! Bond, which is one of the top teams in Group B. We’ll prepare for them the same way we prepared for this game)," Isaac ended. – Mav C. Gonzales, JVP, GMA News