Buzhan jumper punches Blades comeback victory
League III.13 Elimination Round
Bacoor Blades @ Formula Shell
20:46
The Bacoor Blades used a second half turnaround capped off by a clutch performanc in the fourth quarter to complete a come-from-behind victory over Formula Shell at South of Heaven, 104-103, to improve to 6-8 for the League this season so far.
The Blades were flat to begin the game, being pounded from the inside by the All-Star frontcourt of Philipp Gulba-Engel and Cãlin Jitaru, with the latter proving to take advantage of the porous inside defense of the Blades to begin the game. The first quarter ended, 29-18.
The second quarter proved to be more of the same as the Blades notched the same number of points as in the previous quarter, as the continuing pounding on the inside by Gulba-Engel and Jitaru became the deciding factor as the two bigmen both had double-doubles to end the half as the score read 53-36 after 24 minutes.
In the third, Boris Buzhan came alive. He, Antoine Fauvel and Kelly Paul scored key baskets and made key stops to pull within 12 points of the hosts. The third quarter ended with the Blades still trailing, 79-67.
After a quarter-long struggle to climb back in the game, a Buzhan assist to Antoine Fauvel tied the game a 98-all. On the ensuing play, a Dragan Bojadžić conversion put the hosts back up 100-98. A Buzhan pull-up jumper tied the game a 100-all. A freethrow line split by Macedonian Fisnik Shehu off an Antoine Fauvel foul temporarily put Formula Shell in the lead, 101-100. Off a Blades timeout, Antoine Fauvel converted underneath to put them up again 102-101.
Two freethrows from Ricardo Reteracion proved to be the last stand by Formula Shell. By this time, Philipp Gulba-Engel suffered an injury and may not return to the ballgame for the final moments. After two possessions the came up empty on both sides, Boris Buzhan came up with the biggest shot of the game. Off a Jitaru miss, Blades forward Kelly Paul secured the rebound with 14 ticks remaining. The Russian guard found himself open at the top of the key as he received the pass from Paul. And he made the shot with just two seconds remaining in the game.
Off a timeout, Jitaru missed the possible game-winner as the Blades completed the comeback win on the road.
Buzhan ended up with 35 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Fauvel had 19 points and 14 rebounds.
Jitaru led the home squad with 39 points and 21 rebounds while Gulba-Engel ended up with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
"We just didn't quit. We kept fighting when we saw that the opportunity to win the game was still there." said Buzhan, whose team went down by as much as 20 points during the game.
"They showed heart today. I'm proud that they were able to respond to the challenge of coming back." said team manager TheDogMan.
The Blades are to face Grandes Consumidores up next as they host them at The Bacoor Forum on the 6th of August.