MANILA, Philippines — Blackwater managed to right the ship in the face of San Miguel Beer’s massive second half uprising as the Bossing pulled off a 126-120 king-sized upset against the Beermen to keep their flickering PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup playoff hopes alive on Wednesday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The Bossing led by 22 points, but saw that big advantage evaporate behind the Beermen’s expected fiery offense in the second half.
June Mar Fajardo gave SMB a 114-113 on a jumper heading into the last four minutes. But Blackwater outscored San Miguel, 13-6 the rest of the way in a strong windup to reward interim coach Patrick Aquino his first win after losing back-to-back since taking the spot of coach Jeff Cariaso.
The win was just Blackwater’s second in eight games, tying Converge for 11th to 12th spot, but that kept the team’s playoff chances alive.
On the other hand, the loss dragged SMB down to eighth spot at 4-5, its playoff hopes suddenly in peril.
Hulking Robert Upshaw threw his massive weight against SMB’s veteran frontline as he finished the game with 35 points, 17 rebounds and five assists.
Sedrick Barefield also delivered big, firing 18 of his 29 points, along with seven boards and eight assists.
Christian David added 15, BJ Andrade 13, while Paul Zamar and CJ Austria chipped in 12 and 11 in a balanced scoring attack for the Bossing.
Bennie Boatwright, who scored 41 points in San Miguel’s comeback win against NLEX over the weekend, led his team with 38 points, 13 rebounds and six assists in the loss.
Fajardo finished with 28 points and 13 rebounds, while CJ Perez had 24.