Sedrick Barefield isn’t dwelling on the Blackwater Bossing’s latest close call—a 120‑115 defeat to the Meralco Bolts on Tuesday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. Instead, he is looking forward to the team’s final two games in the PBA Governors’ Cup eliminations, and he already knows what needs to happen in those must‑win contests.
“We know what it is. It’s do‑or‑die for us,” Barefield acknowledged in an interview with Rebanse after Blackwater’s tough loss. “We gotta go out there and take it. They’re not gonna give us anything easy, we gotta go out there and fight every possession. The last two games came down to a couple of possessions. We gotta try to be as perfect as we can every time down.”
In that loss, the explosive Fil-Am fired a team-high 31 points on top of 5 rebounds and looked poised to will Blackwater to a big win—that is, until the Bolts found a way to escape in the endgame.
Barefield, Bossing in Two Close Calls
Of course, Barefield is right. Blackwater’s last two losses have gone down the wire, and each time, the Bossing were a possession or two away from maybe altering the outcome of those games. Against Meralco, for instance, Barefield made a tough lay‑in to give his team a 113‑111 lead with only 1:47 left. In need of a stop, the Bossing instead gave an and‑one to Chris Newsome, giving the lead—and momentum—back to the Bolts.
A game prior, against the Magnolia Hotshots, Barefield hit a huge trey to cut what was once a commanding Magnolia lead to three, 100‑97, with a little over three minutes left. But the Bossing unraveled, surrendering two freebies and an open three to KJ Buffen to fall behind by eight, 105‑97, just before the two‑minute mark of what turned out to be a 107‑101 triumph for the Hotshots.
Two games, two could‑have‑been wins.
Who’s Next for Blackwater?
Now, Barefield and the Bossing march forward, and they’ve got formidable foes ahead of them in the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters on October 17 and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel on October 23. The Bossing will need two wins—including at least a 31‑point rout of Ginebra—to even have a chance at making the playoffs.
Sedrick Barefield knows what needs to be done. He knows it’s perfection. Nothing less will suffice.
