Lastimosa late heroics key Elite breakthru

Game tomorrow (Dubai)

7 p.m. – Mahindra vs Alaska

MANILA, Philippines - Blackwater, behind a gutsy drive by third-year pro Carlo Lastimosa in the closing seconds, pulled off a breakthrough win in the Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup, nipping Meralco, 92-90, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City last night.

Lastimosa, a transferee from Barako Bull, took over at the finish, scoring five points, including the marginal basket off Rey Guevarra and Jared Dillinger with one second to go as the Elite salvaged the victory in the game where they led by 18 points early on.

As Lastimosa nailed a runner that hit the board before swooshing in, Blackwater came through with a first win in the PBA all-Filipino tourney.

“We’re 0-11 in this tournament last year. Finally, we got a win, and we hope that things will be in our favor going into our next games,” said Blackwater coach Leo Isaac.

“In our past games, we’re always in the game only to get beaten at the finish. We’re right there against NLEX and Alaska Milk but couldn’t get the needed kick at the finish,” Isaac noted.

“On the board (in the dugout before the game), we wrote ‘compete’ and ‘win.’ That’s our battle cry. Luckily, we’re able to do that tonight,” Isaac pointed out.

Isaac and his troops got the breakthrough win at the expense of the Meralco Bolts who reeled with a second straight loss in the tourney.

The Bolts waged a searing rally in the final half even as they lost top rookie Chris Newsome on a flagrant infraction late in the second period.

As the Elite blew away their 55-37 lead and fell behind at 84-87 in the last three minutes, Lastimosa and Reil Cervantes took the cudgels for the team, teaming up in an 8-3 closing binge.

After Blackwater regained the lead at 90-87, the Bolts drew even at 90 on a rare three-pointer by Cliff Hodge off a kick-out pass by Jimmy Alapag with 6.6 ticks left.

Then off a timeout, Lastimosa gamely took ball possession, quickly got past main defender Guevarra and attacked the defensive help put up by Dillinger.

“It’s a structured sideline out of bounce with so many options. It was Carlo who really took charge. He could have swung the ball to Mike (Cortez) but he took the option to attack,” said Isaac of the winning play of Lastimosa, nephew of PBA great Jojo.

Rain or Shine hit its rhythm in the final half, pummeling San Miguel Beer both on the breaks and with a torrid outside shooting for a 99-84 win and the solo lead with a 3-0 card later in the night.

Gunners Gabe Norwood, Jeff Chan, Chris Tiu, Beau Belga and Jericho Cruz all connected from beyond the arc as the Elasto Painters seized control in the third period and roared on in the final quarter, leading by as many as 17 before handing the Beermen a first loss in three starts.

“We just put up an effort to help each other. No team can stop San Miguel defending Junmar (Fajardo) one on one,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao.