The Blackwater Elite turned to their outside shots to turn back the Alaska Aces, 112-104, Sunday night in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Bobby Ray Parks finished with 25 points and 16 rebounds for the Elite as they picked up their seventh win in 11 games.
The Elite ended their elimination-round campaign by taking the no. 3 seeding in the quarterfinals.
This allowed Blackwater to join early co-qualifiers TNT, NorthPort, Barangay Ginebra, Rain or Shine and Magnolia Ang Pambansang Manok.
The Elite’s record is the highest that the team has reached in its franchise history.
With the game close, triples from Shej Roj Sunang and Rabeh Al-Hussaini in the last 1:22 allowed the Elite to move away, 109-104.
Alaska, currently at eighth spot with its 6-5 slate, drew 24 points and 16 rebounds from Diamon Simpson.
This put Alaska into a tie with Phoenix Pulse with their 4-7 record.
The Aces, with Chris Banchero making 18 points, are now waiting for the results of the final day of the eliminations.
The last days will determine who their opponent will be in the playoffs for the remaining quarterfinals seats.
The scores:
Blackwater 112 – Parks 25, Sumang 18, Maliksi 15, Blair 14, Belo 13, Al-Hussaini 12, Digregorio 6, Desiderio 4, Cortez 3, Sena 2, Alolino 0.
Alaska 104 – Simpson 24, Banchero 18, Thoss 15, Manuel 15, Teng 11, Enciso 9, Casio 6, Racal 4, Pascual 2, Exciminiano 0, Cruz 0.
Quarterscores: 27-32, 56-55, 80-78, 112-104.