Bossing hold fort in wild endgame to clip Fuel Masters and win first game since October last year

Blackwater once again shocked the spell of defeat at the expense of Phoenix on Saturday, this happened while waiting for the return of key players from a long absence.

“He will be a big addition if he will play, even 80 percent of Troy Rosario” coach Ariel Vanguardia said after the Bossing defeated the Fuel Masters, 108-105, to win the first Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup— the first since October last year—in Ynares Center in Antipolo City.

The victory, which was obtained by the import of Shawn Glover’s 31 points, allowed Bossing to snap a string of seven straight losses since returning to the last part of the Commissioner’s Cup, with Rosario sidelined due to injury.

Vanguardia said Rosario’s comeback could happen on Wednesday against San Miguel Beer at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City. 4.

Mikey Williams hit a three-pointer in the dying seconds to preserve TNT’s 105-100 win over Rain or Shine as Tropang Giga joined Converge and Meralco on a 2-0 run.

Williams came off the bench for the second straight game and then finished with 24 points, including a dagger trey that came after the Elasto Painters cut the gap to two on a basket from import Michael Qualls.

Tropang Giga, who also got 24 from import Jalen Hudson and 22 from RR Pogoy, won despite a slow first half that saw them trail by 18 at one point.

Rain or Shine dropped to 0-2, marring a 35-point effort from Qualls.

Rosario’s return will be a big boost for a team that was plagued by injuries during the previous conference when a promising start was followed by a slump that resulted in a 3-9 record and an early holiday.

Walk up

Baser Amer sat out four of the last five games of the midseason tournament due to a strained calf, while Jvee Casio only returned after being out after the Philippine Cup due to a groin problem.

Bossing also missed sophomore Joshua Torralba due to a knee injury in the All-Filipino tournament.

Two of the three players stepped up, with Amer pouring in 17 points after making 6-of-10 shots highlighted by four triples, while Casio hit a crucial corner jumper with less than a minute left that extended Blackwater’s lead to 101-98.

Casio’s timely shot came after the Phoenix collected import Du’vaughn Maxwell. The Fuel Masters even took the driver’s seat on Tyler Tio’s putback with 1:40 to go 98-97. “Priority No.

It was deja vu for Blackwater after snapping their seven-game skid last September 24 when they beat Phoenix, 97-85, in the second game of the Commissioner’s Cup.

Important to miss

Phoenix couldn’t avoid the same fate and fell to an 0-2 start in the conference last season under interim coach Jamike Jarin, who was fired after Topex Robinson left to handle La Salle in the UAAP.

Maxwell’s 37 points could not lift Phoenix to victory, while rookie Tio missed two three-point attempts that could have tied the game.

“I challenged the guys to go a little harder today,” he said. “We treat it as a championship game because it will be difficult to go down 0-2 and it will be difficult to come back.”

The Bossing trailed by 12 at one point and the highlight of the endgame was the Casio basket that the entire Blackwater bench celebrated. Casio finished with just five points as he slowly tries to regain the form that has made him one of the best guards in the league.

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