For Blackwater’s final three PBA On Tour games, Jeff Cariaso will finally be in charge.

The seasoned coach attended Sunday’s game at the FilOil EcoOil Center in San Juan but deferred to assistant Joe Silva, who led the Bossing to a 103-101 victory over the San Miguel Beermen.

However, Cariaso claimed that with a 12-day break until their subsequent match, he would have sufficient time to get to know the players better.

Cariaso joined the team in April of last year to succeed Ariel Vanguardia as head coach. Before the start of the preseason, he briefly oversaw Bossing’s practices before departing for the US.

Cariaso remarked that he has ten days starting Monday and he believes that it will improve the atmosphere for the upcoming match.

He also said that he intends to oversee the final three games.

On July 14, Blackwater will go back to court to face Meralco, and on July 23 and July 30, it will finish its campaign against Rain or Shine and TNT Tropang Giga.

The previous two days, Cariaso began attending team practices, but he left the squad’s performance versus San Miguel to Silva and the rest of the coaching staff.

However, he did make an effort to inspire the squad against San Miguel in order to get a first-ever preseason double-double.

When the team won the previous game, Cariaso reportedly challenged them to attempt to win two straight games because, in a genuine conference—and for the squad, this is a real conference—he thinks they need to string victories together to stand a chance.

Game highlight

Troy Rosario contributed 19 points, five rebounds, and four assists to a strong showing. But with 22 seconds left, Jayvee Casio was fouled and made three critical free throws.

The shots were sufficient to give Blackwater a tenuous (102-101) lead.

Jericho Cruz of San Miguel attempted to steal the victory but missed his jumper and fouled Baser Amer, who tied the game at the free throw line.

Rosario’s leadership was still responsible for keeping Blackwater ahead of the undermanned Beermen.

After Allyn Bulanadi and Cruz put up an 8-0 run lead, the Beermen appeared to be winning. San Miguel now has a 101-99 edge as a result.

However, when Casio fouled while shooting a three, everything started to go wrong.

Allyn Bulanadi’s 26-point performance for the Beermen, who also received 25 from Cruz, was in vain.

San Miguel also only had a few players available because Terrence Romeo and Marcio Lassiter were injured, while June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez were with the Gilas team in Europe.