Elite outclass Enforcers; Batang Pier whip Kings

MANILA, Philippines – Reil Cervantes and Carlo Lastimosa both finished with a flurry, overwhelming the entire Mahindra team in the fourth quarter as the Blackwater Elite outfought the Enforcers, 110-102, in a Valentine’s Day duel in the Oppo PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Cervantes and Lastimosa combined for 28 of their 50 points in the payoff period as Blackwater repeated its conquest of Mahindra in a virtual knockout duel for the last spot in the Philippine Cup playoff stage.

Import MJ Rhett and Art dela Cruz came up with 19 points each with the latter also getting 18 rebounds as the Elite overcame the Enforcers though playing with only two legitimate big guys in the absence of James Sena, Jason Ballesteros and JP Erram.

Blackwater caught up with Mahindra at 1-1.

“With only two big guys in Frank Golla and our import, we had to dig deep on our No. 3 guys (small forwards). Gilbert Bulawan, Cervantes and Dela Cruz rotated against the bigs of Mahindra,” said Blackwater coach Leo Isaac.

“Our import is slowly getting there. He’s being challenged by everybody to play better. His spot in our team is not secured until he plays like an import who can dominate and get victories for us,” Isaac also said.

  Rhett showed improvement from his mediocre 16-point PBA debut against Tropang TNT but it’s the pair of Cervantes and Lastimosa who really stepped up in the crunch allowing the Elite to bounce back from a 102-108 loss to an all-Filipino TNT side last Wednesday.

Cervantes went 6-of-7 from the field, including 4-of-4 from beyond the arc in the final canto. Lastimosa, on the other hand, converted two twinners and a perfect 6-of-6 free throws in the same stretch.

Cervantes and Dela Cruz strung up three straight triples as Blackwater opened a 102-91 lead entering the last two minutes of play.

The last of Lastimosa’s charities, meanwhile, gave the Elite their largest spread of 110-97.

Terrence Romeo banged in two big treys down the stretch to cap a 19-point performance, and Globalport also bounced back from a first-game loss with an 89-85 decision over Barangay Ginebra later in the night.

Brian Williams piled up 19 points and 17 rebounds against Ginebra behemoth Greg Slaughter and Billy Mamaril contributed eight of his 12 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Batang Pier past the Gins Kings who on the other hand reeled with a second straight loss.

“I have to appreciate the effort of the guys on defense. In the first game, I saw on the giant screen being flashed ‘no defense.’ We played an excellent defense this time,” said Globalport coach Pido Jarencio.

“It’s a total team effort but I also have to mention the performance of Brian Williams. He showed big improvement from his first game,” Jarencio added.

The Batang Pier squandered a 15-point first-half lead but salvaged the game on Romeo’s crucial triple off LA Tenorio with 55.5 ticks to go.