Shawn Glover and Jvee Casio delivered the killing blows as Blackwater doused a fiery Phoenix run in the final frame to squeeze out a 108-105 victory in the 2023 PBA Governors’ Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo on Friday, Jan. 27.
Seeing their 12 point lead in the second half vanish in front of a searing rally from the Fuel Masters, Glover and Casio took turns in taking over for the Bossing, drilling back-to-back hits to restore order before nailing all the important free throws down the stretch to pick up their first win of the conference.
The returning import displayed a different facet of his game as, after not attempting from the three-point territory in his first game, surprised the Fuel Masters with his perimeter game to finish with 31 points built on four triples to go along with his 13 rebounds.
Baser Amer was also on target from the distance, nailing four triples to finish with 17 points while Yousef Taha and Ato Ular manned the paint for Blackwater with double-double outings. The former added 10 points and 13 rebounds while the latter was equally impressive with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Still, despite the stellar performances from the Bossing, Blackwater was still pushed to the ropes behind the blazing Phoenix comeback fueled by Du’Vaughn Maxwell, Jason Perkins and Tyler Tio.
The Bossing looked like it had answers to every Fuel Masters run as they managed to keep a four-point barrier even after some fiery Phoenix runs. A 9-2 run spearheaded by Maxwell finally allowed the Fuel Masters to tie the game 92-all but Glover retaliated with own 5-0 run to retake the lead.
Phoenix finally broke through and took the lead for the first time in the contest, 98-97, with 1:40 left before Glover and Casio delivered the big hits. The Fuel Master tried to play the fouling game from there but the Bossing, despite some crucial misses from the foul line down the stretch, nailed the needed free throws to escape the now still winless Phoenix.
Maxwell saw his 37 points, 17 rebounds, and six blocks put to waste while Tio and Perkins had 15 and 13 points, respectively.