Blackwater suffered a 93-77 loss to South Korean side Seoul SK Knights as the East Asia Super League Terrific 12 got underway Tuesday at the Tap Seac Pavilion in Macau.
The Elite erased a 17-point deficit in the first half when import Alex Stepheson and rookies Paul Desiderio and Diego Dario led a run that tied the score at 46-all in the third.
But Blackwater allowed Knights to regain control behind import Aaron Haynes and Young Jun An to put themselves in danger of suffering an early exit in the five-team international competition.
Coach Aris Dimaunahan’s team must beat Japan’s Chiba Jets on Wednesday in order to stay alive. The top team in Group A advances to the knockout semifinals.
Blackwater played its opening assignment minus Ray Parks Jr. and Mike DiGregorio for various reasons.
Parks is nursing an Achilles injury while DiGregorio was down with flu.
Stepheson finished with 22 points and 22 rebounds while fellow import Marqus Blakely had 14 points.
Desiderio was Blackwater’s top local scorer with 12 points. (Jonas Terrado)
