ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Blackwater out to claim another big scalp; Converge eyes 3-0 start

Blackwater out to claim another big scalp; Converge eyes 3-0 start

Published Jul 16, 2026 02:57 pm

At A Glance

  • Blackwater is out to prove its opening game win is no fluke as it tries to claim another big scalp this time against Magnolia when they tangle in the PBA Season 50 Governors' Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Friday, July 17.

Blackwater is out to prove its opening game win is no fluke as it tries to claim another big scalp, this time against Magnolia, when they tangle in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Friday, July 17.

The Bossing, who are coming off a shocking 131-106 demolition of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, aim to do the same against an equally talented opponent in the Hotshots in the main event at 7:30 p.m.

The clash will come after an entertaining curtain raiser at 5:15 p.m. as Converge guns for a 3-0 start against Macau which is trying to prevent itself from falling to a 0-3 hole.

And while the Bossing still have a lot to achieve to prove that they are for real, head coach Patrick Aquino believes the team is on the right track as they try to tear a page from their first victim’s book in hopes of sustaining the good start.

“We want to imitate what they're doing also. Try to be very aggressive from start to finish. I think we did that part. We've been aggressive and we played together,” said Aquino.

“As far as I'm concerned, the assist number is great for us. That's about how we play," he added.

Kentrell Barkley made a good account of himself in his Bossing debut, dropping 29 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists while getting ample support from RK Ilagan and Sedrick Barefield.

Barefield finished with 24 points while Ilagan chipped in 22.

The Bossing, though, will have their first real test in the conference against the Hotshots who are surely raring to bounce back after a heartbreaking 96-98 loss to Phoenix.

Head coach LA Tenorio will surely need more from his import KJ Buffen who was limited to just 15 points after being saddled with foul trouble. Of course, guys like Jerom Lastimosa and Zav Lucero must continue to deliver the goods to help the team.

Meanwhile in the first game, the FiberXers, who barely escaped Terrafirma with a 105-103 win, try to avoid falling into the same mistake against the Giant Pandas.

Macau, likewise, hopes to have another strong start but this time aim to put on a better finish after allowing SMB to pull away late in their 109-123 defeat.

Related Tags

Blackwater Bossing Magnolia Hotshots PBA
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ static_articles_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.