Floodbuster finally winners, pull off OT win on Christmas Day

Games Wednesday (Cuneta Astrodome) 

4:15 p.m. -- GlobalPort vs Phoenix 

7 p.m. -- Meralco vs San Miguel 

BOCAUE, Bulacan — The Mahindra Floodbuster banked on tremendous will power to  give themselves a wonderful Christmas present, coming from behind to finally break into the win-column in the PBA Philippine Cup with a 97-93 overtime triumph over the Blackwater Elite before a huge crowd at the Philippine Arena here Sunday night. 

Alex Mallari, Ryan Arana and Nico Salva keyed Mahindra's mighty fightback from 15 points down early in the fourth quarter as they kept their supremacy over the Elite and chalked up the elusive first win after a woeful 0-5 start in the all-Filipino tourney. 

The Floodbuster blew chances to win the game right in regulation on a flubbed trey by Nico Elorde and a missed follow-up layup by Salva, but Mahindra pulled through just the same on clutch shots by Mallari and Arana in extension play. 

Curiously, Mahindra made it 2-0 over Blackwater in this 50,000-seater Bocaue, Bulacan playing venue and raised their record to 3-1 in overtime games. The Elite, meanwhile, are now 0-6 in OT play. 

The Floodbuster refused to just roll over and die after falling behind by 15 early in the fourth, and instead showed great resolve in stopping the Elite and foiling their bid to grab solo second place behind the front-running San Miguel Beermen (4-1). Blackwater moved down to 4-3. 

"I just kept telling the guys to keep believing," said Mahindra coach Chris Gavina. 

Mallari and Arana made it happen as they fired key shots in the extra period to highlight their explosive Christmas Day showing. 

Mallari put in a career-high-tying 23 points that went with 11 rebounds, four assists, four steals and one block against six turnovers while Arana chipped in 19 markers, six boards, one assist  and one steal. 

Arana, a transferee from San Miguel, drained a trey to start the overtime and the Floodbuster held onto the lead all the way to the finish. 

Salva had a significant contribution with 14 points and four rebounds and so did scrappy forward Mark Yee with 14 rebounds and eight points. 

Yee finished the game as he escaped being called a flagrant infraction penalty two on a hit on Arthur dela Cruz that sparked his verbal confrontation with the Blackwater coaching staff. Later, he also avoided a foul in tackling down Kyle Pascual who hurt his right shoulder causing him to miss the closing minutes of the contest. 

The Floodbuster also did a good job on the defensive end, holding Blackwater down to 17 points in the fourth quarter. 

Mahindra eventually caught up with Blackwater at 81-all on a drive by Mallari off James Sena with 1:46 left. 

Blackwater had its last possession in regulation with the count tied at 83 with 46 seconds left in the clock. But the Elite threw away the possession on a dribbling violation committed by Roi Sumang.