MANILA — The Blackwater Elite pulled off a king-size upset, bringing down the Barangay Ginebra Kings, 83-77, on Saturday night in a PBA Governors' Cup road game in Dipolog City, Zamboanga del Norte. Former Kia player Reil Cervantes buried a couple of three-pointers followed by a 10-foot jumper in the endgame to power the Elite to their first win in the conference after three successive losses. After Cervantes' final shot gave Blackwater the lead, 77-76, with a minute left, the Kings had two chances to regain the lead, but Dorian Pena missed two free throws. His frontcourt partner Rodney Brondial managed to grab the offensive rebound and tried a putback but missed. Blackwater import Marcus Douthit grabbed the rebound and was quickly fouled by the Kings. The 6'9” Gilas naturalized center drilled both charities to give the Elite a three-point edge. The Kings still had one more chance to send the game into overtime with a three-pointer, but Sol Mercado made an errant pass that was stolen by Blackwater point guard Brian Heruela. The Kings immediately fouled the rookie who then split his free throws to give the Elite an 81-77 lead with just 18.2 seconds left. After another Ginebra miss, Eddie Laure sealed the Blackwater victory with two more free throws. The Kings suffered their third loss in four games, tying the Elite at 10th to 11th place in the standing, just a notch higher than the last-place Rain or Shine Elasto Painters who are still winless after two games. Douthit led Blackwater with 24 points. Bambam Gamalinda chimed in 18 markers while Cervantes added 14, eight of them scored in the fourth quarter. Ginebra's high-scoring import Orlando Johnson, who averaged 47.6 points in his first three games in the league, scored 30 points, missing several attempts at the basket in the final period. LA Tenorio added 17 markers while Mercado had chipped in 10 points. Ginebra continued to miss the services of big men Greg Slaughter, Japeth Aguilar, and Chris Ellis. The Kings' lone victory came at the expense of expansion club KIA Motors, 105-98, last Wednesday. The Kings' next game will be against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters on Tuesday in an overseas game in Dubai. Games Sunday: San Miguel Beermen vs.Global Port Batang Pier and Purefoods Star Hotshots vs. Meralco Bolts.
