Blackwater guns for second straight win
BLACKWATER guns for its second straight victory when it tangles with opening day winner TNT as action in the PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup continues on Saturday, March 2, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
The Bossing opened the AllFilipino conference with a narrow 96-93 win over the Meralco Bolts on Wednesday, and will look to follow that up with another victory against the Tropang Giga, whom they meet at 3 p.m.
Newly acquired guard Rey Nambatac made an explosive debut for the Bossing as he finished with a double-double effort of 27 points and 10 assists in leading his new team to the victory.
The win also marked Blackwater’s first since opening the Commissioner’s Cup with a 103-84 triumph over Converge back in November.
From there, however, the Bossing went on a downward spiral after dropping their next 10 games under new coach Jeff Cariaso.
Cariaso, though, is glad to have a new weapon at his disposal in Nambatac, whom Blackwater acquired in a recent trade with Rain or Shine.
“One thing that we know moving forward is, this guy’s only gonna get better,” said Cariaso referring to Nambatac.
“I love the fact that he has a chip on his shoulder. He comes in each and every day with something to prove and with a guy like that on your team you can never go wrong. We’re really happy. This is just the first step, but a big first step.”
The Bossing, however, is expecting an uphill battle against the Tropang Giga squad that has multi-titled PBA coach Chot Reyes back at the helm.
TNT opened the conference with a come-from-behind 108-107 win over Rain or Shine.
Vastly improved gunner Calvin Oftana carried the fight for the Tropang Giga with 23 points and 14 rebounds.
An added inside weapon for Reyes is Filipino American big man Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, whom the team acquired on Monday in a three-team trade with NLEX and Blackwater.
The 29-year-old Ganuelas-Rosser had a solid TNT debut of 15 points and 14 boards.
Meanwhile, opening day losers Rain or Shine and Meralco face off at 6:15 p.m.
The Elasto Painters are expected to use their youth and dynamism in trying to outgun the older Bolts.
Guards Andrei Caracut, Gian Mamuyac and Adrian Nocum, along with Leonard Santillan will be at the firing end for Rain or Shine, which is coming off a quarterfinal stint in the Commissioner’s Cup.