Montalban: Kentrell Barkley met expectations and debuted with a triple-double to tow Blackwater past Rain Or Shine, 131-108, in the PBA Season 50 Governors' Cup at Ynares Center in Montalban on Saturday. Barkley scored 29 points, hauled down 15 rebounds and issued 10 assists. According to Philippines News Agency, the former Most Valuable Player in the Indonesian Basketball League hit his first seven shots, including four triples, in jumpstarting the rout while becoming only the first Bossing to notch a triple-double since Cameron Krutwig in the 2022-23 Commissioner's Cup. Coach Patrick Aquino expressed his satisfaction with the team's performance, emphasizing the collective mindset of winning and perseverance shown by the players. 'Kentrell is a great teammate. When he came here, he studied who he's gonna play for and we're just happy that we had him and I hope we . just follow KB and I think we're gonna go far, as far as we could go with KB around,' Aquino said. Barkley, on his part, attributed his aggress ive play to executing Coach Pat's game plan, aiming to provide his teammates with the best chance of winning despite feeling fatigued in the second quarter. The Bossing led by as much as 103-69. Even with Aaron Fuller marking his return with 38 points and 15 boards, Rain Or Shine suffered its worst loss since a 90-114 defeat to Barangay Ginebra last May 3 in the Commissioner's Cup eliminations. Despite the successful campaign-opener, Aquino is hoping to see more improvements from their offseason in the next games. He acknowledged the journey ahead, stating, 'We need a lot of work to be done. This is just the start and it's a long way into this conference. I'm happy we won our first game, it's a good start and i-fo-follow up na lang namin sa susunod na (we will follow this up in our next) games to be better.' This Sunday, also at Ynares Center Montalban, NLEX and Terrafirma will battle for the 2-0 lead in Group A at 5:15 p.m. In the main game, Titan Ultra and Converge will face off at 7:30 p.m. During the l eague's opening on Friday at Ynares Center Antipolo, Terrafirma defeated an import-less Titan, 113-100, while NLEX, under new head coach Jimmy Alapag, routed guest team Macau, 114-75.