(CNN Philippines) — The Blackwater Elite registered its first victory in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup after defeating Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 83-77, on Saturday evening (May 16) in Dipolog City.
Reil Cervantes had 14 points and three rebounds to power the Elite, who dealt the Gin Kings their third loss of the conference.
Blackwater (1-3) was holding a slim 73-72 lead, under four minutes left in the fourth quarter, until a transition layup from Sol Mercado put Ginebra on top. Marcus Douthit responded with a bucket inside but two free throws from Orlando Johnson put the Gin Kings ahead, 76-75, at the 1:45 mark.
A pull up jumper from Carvantes gave the Elite back the lead, but the game was knotted at 77 after Mercado made a split from the charity stripe, a little over a minute remaining.
Eddie Laure made a freethrow on the other end as Blackwater grabbed a 78-77 lead. Ginebra tried to move into the driver’s seat but came up empty on their possession and Douthit hit two from the freethrow line to push Blackwater’s lead up to three, 80-77, 23.9 seconds to go.
The Gin Kings called a timeout to set up a play but their inbound pass was stolen by Brian Heruela, who immediately sued for time with 20.6 ticks left.
Heruela made one free throw to give the Elite a safe four-point cushion with 18.2 remaining. Ginebra (1-3) had one final chance to salvage the game but LA Tenorio airballed a three that landed in the hands of Douthit.
Laure hit a pair of freethrows for the final tally, giving Blackwater its first win of the conference.
