By REYNALD MAGALLON
RK Ilagan took charge as Blackwater pulled off a come-from-behind 95-90 victory over NLEX to stay perfect in the Kadayawan Invitational tournament at the USEP Gym on Friday, Aug. 22.
Ilagan came up huge and fired 17 points – none bigger than the clutch floater that gave the Bossing the 94-90 cushion with 36 seconds left to notch its second win in as many games in the pocket tournament.
Abu Tratter also hit the crucial basket for Blackwater, scoring on a short stab that broke a 90-all deadlock and capped the 17-point comeback for the team.
Ilagan shot 4-of-8 from deep while Troy Malilin continued with his steady play with 19 points. Paul Zamar and Sedrick Barefield had 11 and 10 respectively.
Meanwhile, Converge barged into the win column behind a clutch hook shot from Justin Baltazar to squeeze out a 100-98 win over Phoenix.
Baltazar, struggling all-game long, delivered when it mattered the most, scoring his lone basket in the FiberXers final possession before the team held on with their defense to force the Fuel Masters also miss their last two attempts.
Justin Arana finished with a double-double of 24 points and 10 rebounds, while Bryan Santos had 15 points – none bigger than his three free throws with 40.9 seconds left to tie the game at 98-all.
Converge improved to a 1-1 record though it can still force a tie for the top spot should it win against Blackwater to end its preliminaries.
