Blackwater picked up a victory right on the first game of the season after Jvee Casio sparked a stunning upset of defending champion TNT, 85-78, Thursday, June 9 in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
Casio scored the game’s last seven points as the Bossing produced a fiery finish that enabled them to start off the season with an unexpected win over one of the tournament favorites.
The win was also doubly sweet for Blackwater since it played without top overall pick Brandon Rosser, who is still recovering from an injury he sustained while playing for Gilas Pilipinas in the 3x3 competitions of the Vietnam Southeast Asian Games.
“It’s huge kasi kailangan namin makapitas ng mga panalo going into the crucial stages of the tournament,” said coach Ariel Vanguardia.
Getting win No. 1 this early was a huge contrast to what Blackwater endured last season when it had to wait until the final game of the Governors’ Cup, the second and final conference, to get a victory which came at the expense of Magnolia.
This time, Blackwater got another big fish in TNT, which remains a talented squad despite missing Mikey Williams due to stalled contract negotiations.
But Casio had other ideas, especially down the stretch as he put TNT’s comeback to waste by scoring a layup followed by a stepback jumper that made it 82-78 for Blackwater, time down to 1:06.
TNT committed a 24-second violation on the next play, setting the stage for Casio to knock down a dagger three with 41.4 seconds remaining for the final count.
Continuing what seems to be a resurgence since being acquired from Alaska last season, Casio ended up with 22 points spiked by five triples.
Four other Bossing players scored in double figures with Baser Amer putting up 11 while Yousef Taha, James Sena and rookie Ato Ular adding 10 apiece.
RR Pogoy scored 17 of his 32 points that allowed TNT to erase a 13-point deficit.
But not even Pogoy’s efforts were enough to send the Tropang Giga to an even 1-1 slate.
The scores:
BLACKWATER 85 — Casio 22, Amer 11, Ular 10, Sena 10, Taha 10, Suerte 8, Ebona 7, McCarthy 4, Torralba 3, Melton 0, Dyke 0.
TNT 78 — Pogoy 32, Erram 10, Castro 10, Rosario 9, Alejandro 7, Khobuntin 4, Reyes 2, Montalbo 2, Rosser 2, Tungcab 0, Marcelo 0, Banal 0.
Quarters: 15-17, 39-37, 64-53, 85-78.