September 24 ------ George King concluded his campaign with Blackwater in the PBA 49th Season Governors’ Cup by dropping 64 points in an impressive win over playoff-bound Rain or Shine, 139-118, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. King hit the franchise record for most points in his final game of the conference, a perfect punctuation for what was an impressive PBA debut as the Bossing's import.
Blackwater ended with a 5-5 win-loss slate and in a tie with NLEX, but the Bossing missed the playoffs due to an inferior quotient. Still, it was a spectacular night for King, who even shot 20-of-20 from the free throw line, also a franchise record. He was 18-of-35 from the field, including 3-of-8 from fours, the last one at the 25.9-second mark of the fourth quarter that gave him 64.
King, who came in midway through the conference to replace Ricky Ledo, also shot 13-of-22 from twos and 2-of-5 from threes. “One of those games where I challenged the team to show what kind of character we have,” said Blackwater coach Jeff Cariaso, whose team was ousted from playoff contention after NLEX won over Barangay Ginebra in overtime, 103-99, last Sunday. “Obviously, last night’s game, before going to sleep, we felt a little disappointed with not being given a chance at least to make the playoffs. But at the end of the day, how we looked at it and the lesson that we’ve learned there is you can never rely on others to move forward."
Sedrick Barefield also added 21 points, while Richard Escoto had 13 points and six rebounds for the Bossing. Jhonard Clarito finished with 18 points and seven rebounds, while Anton Asistio had 14 points for the Elasto Painters who dropped to 7-3. They, however, entered the game already assured of the No. 1 seed out of Group B.
The scores:
BLACKWATER 139 – King 64, Barefield 21, Escoto 13, Rosario 12, Mitchell 11, Corteza 5, Chua 4, Casio 3, Ilagan 3, Montalbo 2, Jopia 1, Kwekuteye 0, Ponferrada 0, Suerte 0.
RAIN OR SHINE 118 – Clarito 18, Fuller 14, Asistio 14, Tiongson 11, Santillan 9, Lemetti 9, Nocum 8, Ildefonso 8, Caracut 7, Belga 6, Mamuyac 6, Villegas 3, Datu 3, Escandor 2, Norwood 0, Borboran 0.
Quarters: 41-37; 70-54; 106-91; 139-118.
Source: spin.ph
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