MANILA, Philippines — In a welcome change, Blackwater has won two games in a row and landed on a share of second spot in the standings.
Their infamous 29-match skid already behind them, the Bossing claimed a second straight victory at the expense of slumping Terrafirma, 107-70, for an impressive 3-1 card in the PBA Philippine Cup yesterday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
As bonus, the Bossing even reset their biggest winning margin in franchise history, which previously stood at 26 in a 132-106 rout of NLEX in the 2019 Commissioner’s Cup.
Ariel Vanguardia’s fired-up charges, who previously toppled TNT and NorthPort in between a setback to pacesetting Barangay Ginebra, are now enjoying their best start since going 3-0 early in the same import-flavored mid-season tournament three years ago.
“We can’t celebrate too much because we know that every team has the capability to beat each other,” said Vanguardia.
Second-round selection Ato Ular, fast proving himself as the steal of the draft, scored 16 to lead five other Bossing in double-figure productions – Jvee Casio (14), Yousef Taha (12), Mark Dyke (11), Barkley Ebona (11) and James Sena (11) – in the follow-up to their 97-90 win over the Batang Pier a week ago.
The Bossing broke free from a tight contest with a 27-12 blast in the last nine minutes of the second canto, sending themselves into the break with a comfortable 54-37 margin.
The Dyip, who are dealing with major injuries that sidelined Isaac Go, Ed Daquioag and more recently Bonbon Batiller, couldn’t recover from there and fell to their fifth straight defeat.
“I was on them during the first quarter. We had a flat start and we’re giving up offensive rebounds. But thanks to our second group, the defense and rebounding picked up. It’s a team effort,” said Vanguardia.
Joshua Munzon showed the way for Terrafirma with 17 markers.
Meanwhile, San Miguel Beer (3-1) seeks to regain its winning ways and force a tie for the lead tonight when it takes on Converge (2-3) in the 6:30 p.m. main game also in Antipolo.
The Beermen saw their spotless run snapped in a 75-72 loss to Barangay Ginebra last Friday.
but can quickly return to the summit if they can hurdle the challenge of dangerous FiberXers.
SMB, though, are dealing with manpower woes with Chris Ross (knee), Vic Manuel (calf) and Terrence Romeo (slipped disc) hurting.
TNT (4-2) eyes its third straight win at 4:30 p.m. against unpredictable Phoenix (2-3).
The Tropang Giga are riding on a two-game streak and just recently welcomed back Fil-Am hotshot Mikey Williams.