By REYNALD MAGALLON
George King pointed toward the sky as the final buzzer sounded at the end of Blackwater’s last assignment in the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup against Rain or Shine. He may just have heard the last buzzer for him in the conference but probably not for his PBA career.
Not especially after making sure to leave a lasting impression with a 64-point explosion to power Blackwater to a 139-118 victory over top seed Rain or Shine and end the conference with a bang at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Monday, Sept. 23.
Fighting for nothing but pride, the Bossing hardly looked like a team already out of contention as they went off to a blazing start before pulling all the stops to keep themselves ahead in the victory that they should carry over to the next conference.
King led the attack, dropping 24 of his total in the opening frame while also ending the night with a perfect 20-of-20 clip from the foul line. It was an all-game brilliance for the prolific Blackwater import who already had 49 just through the first three quarters of the game.
Blackwater led by 16 at the intermission, 70-56, and while Rain or Shine came as close as six points, 72-78, the Bossing found an extra gear to once again build a separation and, this time, broke away for good.
Sedrick Barefield also had 21 points while Richard Escoto finished with 13, Troy Rosario with 12 and rookie DJ Mitchell with 11 for the Bossing who finished with a 4-5 record.
Meanwhile, Converge sustained its hot run heading into the playoffs, prevailing over Magnolia, 89-82, to not only end the eliminations on four-game winning streak but also claim the third seed in Group A.
The FiberXers unloaded a blistering quarter run sparked by King Caralipio along with import Jalen Jones and Justin Arana to finish the eliminations with a 6-4 record and arrange a best-of-five quarterfinals duel with San Miguel.
Jones led the way in scoring for Converge with 27 points, although his efficiency remained a suspect after needing 26 shots to reach his output. He added 12 rebounds and four assists.
Arana also had a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds while Alec Stockton and Schonny Winston finished with 10 apiece.
Caralipio only had nine to his name but it all came during a stretch that sparked a 32-point third quarter explosion to take the lead from the Magnolia which led by as many as 15 points in the first half.
With the outcome, the playoff picture was finally completed with Magnolia, which settled for the fourth spot in Group A after sliding to a 5-5 slate, drew Group B top seed Rain or Shine as its quarters opponent.
