MAHINDRA’s future is readily taking shape and that is apparent as early as Sunday.
With their young guns and new acquisitions each playing crucial roles the Floodbuster frustrated Blackwater 96-87 in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Reden Celda scored 18 points, Malcolm White finished with 16 points and 16 rebounds but the combined 24 points and immense toughness provided by Glen Khobuntin and Eric Camson were big factors in the team notching only its second win in eight games.
“Great, amazing effort from our new guys, Glenn and Eric,” said Gavina of the two former NLEX Road Warriors acquired in a trade late last week for Alex Mallari.
“I can’t say enough about them,” added Gavina. “They were eager to prove their worth. They’ve readily bought in. They’ve only been with us three days and they already showed they are willing to play their part.”
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The victory tied Mahindra with its victim. More wins in their remaining elimination round games against Phoenix on May 21 and Barangay Ginebra on June 2 and the Floodbuster can hope for inclusion among the eight teams advancing to the quarterfinals.
Gavina prefers to let the cards fall where they may in that aspect. “The focus right now is trying to figure out how to play consistent,” he said.
“Even if we can’t salvage our last games, we’d like to figure out how to be consistent in contributions, play our roles, sticking to the system. That’s what we’re looking forward to.”
The loss could have dealt a big blow to Blackwater’s own flickering bid to advance since it still has league powerhouses Ginebra and San Miguel Beer to tackle on May 25 and May 31, respectively.
Greg Smith had a monster game of 29 points and 25 rebounds for the Elite, but the much-needed contributions from his local teammates, particularly KG Canaleta and Mike Digregorio, did not come as expected.
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Hounded by Khobuntin for the most part, Canaleta wound up with only 11 points while Digregorio chipped in only nine markers.
Kyle Pascual also added 11 points on top of six rebounds but that was also not enough in stopping a critical and more balanced Mahindra surge in the fourth quarter.
Khobuntin punctuated his 15 points with seven in the final period with his triple from the left wing making it a 96-84 count.
White and Jackson Corpuz did their part as the Floodbuster broke the tight game wide open by outscoring the Elite 28-17 in the last 12 minutes.
