By ADRIAN STEWART CO
The Blackwater Bossing relied on a torrid first half shooting to wallop the Converge FiberXers, 90-78, in the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday night, March 6.
Christian David led the way with 16 points, including three three-point conversions, while Rey Suerte added 14 markers as the Bossing surged to solo first place with a 3-0 record.
RK Ilagan drilled all of his 12 points in the second quarter, while Richard Escoto and Jeth Troy Rosario also made their presence felt offensively with 12 and 10 markers, respectively, for Blackwater.
From a tight exchange early in the game, the Bossing started to pull away behind outside shots from Suerte, Rey Nambatac and David to turn a slim 9-8 lead to a 30-14 spread.
In the second quarter, it was the turn of ex-Converge guard Ilagan to catch fire for Blackwater as he connected with all of his five shot attempts to establish their biggest lead of 31 points and never looked back.
Alec Stockton tallied 24 points to lead the FiberXers, rookie Deschon Winston added 22 markers, while Justin Arana contributed 18 points as they remained winless in three matches.
The NLEX Road Warriors rode on the hot hands of Robert Bolick, Jr. in the fourth quarter to score a 99-96 victory over the Meralco Bolts.
NLEX improved to 2-1, while the Bolts dropped to 1-2.
Down 90-91 with a minute left, Bolick drilled two free throws, followed by a layup by Enoch Valdez, and two more free throws each from Bolick and Anthony Semerad to establish a 98-91 lead.
The Bolts made their last push as Chris Newsome drained two free throws followed by a three-pointer by Allein Maliksi to cut the deficit to 96-98, but a split free throw by Valdez increased the Road Warriors’ lead to 99-96.
Bolick top-scored for the Road Warriors with 26 points, with 16 coming in the fourth quarter.
Valdez chipped in 12 points and Negrense Jhan McHale Nermal contributed 11 markers for the Road Warriors./ASC, WDJ
BLACKWATER 90 — David 16, Suerte 14, Ilagan 12, Escoto 12, Rosario 10, Nambatac 7, Yap 5, Sena 3, DiGregorio 3, Guinto 2, Kwekuteye 2, Tungcab 2, Hill 2, Jopia 0, Concepcion 0.
CONVERGE 78 — Stockton 24, Winston 22, Arana 18, Vigan-Fleming 6, Fornillos 3, Delos Santos 2, Balanza 2, Maagdenberg 1, Santos 0, Caralipio 0, Melecio 0, Nieto 0, Ambohot 0, Zaldivar 0.
Quarterscores: 30-14, 58-29, 76-50, 90-78.