Elite, Warriors seal title duel, beat tough foes

Game Friday (Araneta Coliseum)

1:30 pm – Blackwater Sports vs NLEX

MANILA, Philippines - Blackwater and NLEX survived Jumbo Plastic and Cebuana Lhuillier’s tough stand and hacked out a pair of hard-earned wins yesterday to seal a rematch for the PBA D-League Foundation Cup crown at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

The defending champion Elite bucked a late charge by the Giants and scrambled with a 91-86 win while the Road Warriors foiled the Gems’ game-winning play in the closing seconds to escape with a 61-60 victory.

Blackwater and NLEX thus swept their respective best-of-three semis series with Game One of the finals, also a best-of-three affair, set on Friday at 1:30 p.m. at the Araneta Coliseum. 

The Elite actually rallied from 12 points down in the third quarter, blew an 11-point lead midway in the fourth period but leaned on their championship experience down the stretch to frustrate the Giants.

Gilbert Bulawan tallied a game-high 22 points and Jericho Cruz scored six of his nine points in the fourth quarter, including a key putback that capped a closing 9-3 run and took away the Giants’ hope of extending the series to a sudden death.

“They caught us by surprise with their physical game. We had a tough time adjusting but I thought our experience made the difference,” said Blackwater Sports coach Leo Isaac.

The Elite, who beat the Warriors in last year’s finals, held a 80-67 lead with four minutes left in the fourth but Jerrick Canada sparked a 16-2 counterattack. Jeff Viernes ended that spurt with a triple to put the Giants ahead, 83-82, with 2:39 remaining.