Blackwater import George King dunks against Rain or Shine in their 2024 PBA Governors' Cup game, Monday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. PBA ImagesBlackwater import George King dunks against Rain or Shine in their 2024 PBA Governors’ Cup game, Monday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. PBA ImagesMANILA — George King made sure to cap his stint with Blackwater on a dominant note, as he powered the Bossing to a 139-118 triumph over Rain or Shine on Monday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

It was a no-bearing game as the Elasto Painters had already clinched the top seed in Group B thanks to NLEX’s overtime win against Barangay Ginebra on Sunday night.

But King still put on a show, scoring a franchise-record 64 points in the victory that gave Blackwater a 5-5 win-loss record to end the elimination round.

They wound up tied with NLEX, but an inferior quotient meant that the Bossing missed out on the quarterfinals.

King proved unstoppable, scoring 25 points in the opening quarter to set the tone and never letting up. He nearly matched the Elasto Painters’ output in the second period, 14-17, as they built a 70-54 halftime lead.

Their advantage grew to as many as 25 points, 125-100, in the final quarter where King continued to pour it on.

Rookie Sedrick Barefield led the Blackwater locals in scoring with 21 points, with three others scoring in double-digits. The Bossing shot nearly 48% from the field in the game and had a 57-45 rebounding advantage.

Jhonard Clarito paced Rain or Shine with 18 points while their import, Aaron Fuller, had 14 points and nine rebounds in just 24 minutes of action.

The Elasto Painters will now have a day to shake off the loss as they are set to play Magnolia, the No. 4 seed in Group A, in Game 1 of a best-of-5 quarterfinals series on Wednesday.

For the Bossing, it was a tough exit as they went 5-2 with King as their import, including back-to-back wins over San Miguel and Rain or Shine to wrap up their campaign. Unfortunately for Blackwater, a 0-3 start to the conference proved costly in the end.

The Scores :

BLACKWATER 139 – King 64, Barefield 21, Escoto 13, Rosario 12, Mitchell 11, Corteza 5, Chua 4, Casio 3, Ilagan 3, Montalbo 2, Jopia 1, Ponferrada 0, Kwekuteye 0, Suerte 0

RAIN OR SHINE 118 – Clarito 18, Asistio 14, Fuller 14, Tiongson 11, Lemetti 9, Nocum 9, Ildefonso 8, Caracut 7, Mamuyac 6, Belga 6, Datu 3, Villegas 3, Escandor 2, Norwood 0, Borboran 0

QUARTERS : 41-37, 70-54, 106-91, 139-118