Blackwater Stuns San Miguel, 109-106; Magnolia Survives Battle With TNT, 94-92

by Raymund Tamayo

Photo credit: rappler.com.

Blackwater Bossing stunned perennial favorite San Miguel Beermen, 109-106, in the 2022 PBA Commissioner's Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday.

It was a milestone win for Blackwater as the Bossing came back from 15 points down to defeat San Miguel for the first time since the 2018 PBA Governor's Cup.

Guards Baser Amer and Mike Ayonayon came up clutch in the endgame, providing the crucial plays for head coach Ariel Vanguardia to seal the deal. 

San Miguel was up by two points, 106-104, with less than two minutes remaining when Amer sank a three-pointer off an offensive rebound. He was fouled during the play, but he failed to convert the bonus free throw.

With Blackwater up by a point, 107-106, Ayonayon intercepted a pass from CJ Perez and nailed the game-winning layup for the final count, still with 20 seconds left. 

San Miguel had a shot to send the game into overtime, but Marcio Lassiter and import Diamond Stone both missed their attempts from beyond the arc.

Blackwater shows endgame poise, steals the ballgame from San Miguel, 109-106.

Cameron Krutwig's triple-double performance of 20 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists earn for him the Best Player of the Game.

#PBAGameTayoDito pic.twitter.com/Bf64vIFTBP

— PBA (@pbaconnect) October 5, 2022

Blackwater import Cameron Krutwig had a triple double of 20 points, 18 rebounds, and 10 assists, with two blocked shots for the Bossing. Amer scored 16 points, three boards, three assists, and two steals to lead the locals.

Newcomer Troy Rosario contributed 13 points, scoring eight of them in the fourth quarter, including two clutch three-pointers.

Yousef Taha, Gab Banal, and Ayonayon scored 11, 10, and 10 points respectively for the Bossing.

Six-time league MVP June Mar Fajadro led the Beermen with 23 points, 16 rebounds, four assists, and three steals while import Stone had a disappointing debut with 20 points and eight boards. Lassiter and Perez had 18 and 16 points respectively.

Meanwhile, the Magnolia Hotshots survived their battle with the TNT Tropang Giga, 94-92, even with a late injury to import Nick Rakocevic in the second game of the afternoon.

Paul Lee sank the two free throws needed to pull off the win, while Calvin Abueva scored 15 points in the final period to lead the Hotshots stand.

Rakocevic injured his knee midway in the fourth quarter after colliding with teammate Jackson Corpuz. Roger Pogoy accidentally pushed Corpuz, and the latter fell on the right knee of Rakocevic. 

Rakocevic just gave Magnolia the lead (76-75) then this happened.

Hope it's nothing serious. #PBAGameTayoDito pic.twitter.com/HpMXy9Gnn9

— PBA (@pbaconnect) October 5, 2022

Magnolia played all-Filipino from then on, with Abueva lifting head coach Chito Victolero's side for the rest of the way.

Abueva scored the floater that gave the Hotshots a 92-90 lead, time down to 32 seconds. TNT import Cameron Oliver then scored on an offensive rebound off his own miss to tie the count at 92-all, 26.4 ticks left.

Lee was then fouled by Calvin Oftana with 4.3 seconds remaining. He sank both free throws for the final tally, much to the ire of TNT head coach Chot Reyes as his squad failed to even attempt an equalizer before the buzzer.

Reyes confronted the game's technical committee after the game because of the foul. He skipped the post-game media interview and quickly exited the venue.

'Walang tumama' 😡

WATCH: Chot Reyes heard complaining about the foul called by the referees on Calvin Oftana. He then walks straight out the Big Dome after their loss to Magnolia on Wednesday night.

Full story >>> https://t.co/gJuMhIeoRi pic.twitter.com/YGMaCKX0IG

— SPIN.ph (@spinph) October 5, 2022

Abueva finished with 25 points, nine boards, three assists, two steals, and one shot block. Lee contributed 16 markers, four rebounds, three assists, and a steal. Rakocevic had 22 points and 15 rebounds before the injury.

Oliver had a monstrous game of 43 points, 17 boards, five assists, and two blocks for TNT. Pogoy had 23 points on a 5-for-11 clip from three-point line, with five rebounds, two assists, and three steals. Oftana scored 12 points and grabbed seven boards as a starter.

Here are the scores:

Blackwater 109 – Krutwig 20, Amer 16, Rosario 13, Taha 11, Ayonayon 10, Banal 10, Suerte 7, MacCarthy 7, Jackson 7, Ular 4, Ebona 4, Sena 0, Go 0.

San Miguel 106 – Fajardo 23, Stone 20, Lassiter 18, Perez 16, Tautuaa 11, Cruz 8, Enciso 6, Manuel 4, Herndon 0, Ross 0.

Quarterscores: 29-33, 61-64, 77-89, 109-106.

Magnolia 94 – Abueva 25, Rakocevic 22, Lee 16, Barroca 13, Dionisio 9, Corpuz 5, Mendoza 3, Wong 1, Jalalon 0, Reavis 0, Zaldivar 0.

TNT 92 – Oliver 43, Pogoy 23, Oftana 12, Montalbo 4, Ganuelas-Rosser 4, Marcelo 3, Alejandro 3, Cruz 0, Tungcab 0, K. Williams 0.

Quarterscores: 26-29, 42-54, 62-73, 94-92.