NORTHPORT turned coach Pido Jarencio’s frustration to inspiration and was rewarded with handsome results against Blackwater last night.
The Batang Pier battled back from an eight-point third quarter deficit and beat the Bossing 87-83 for their third win in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
An Arvin Tolentino floater capped a furious 16-5 binge that gave the Batang Pier an 82-79 cushion before Troy Rosario shoved Blackwater to within 81-82 with 2:57 left in the fourth.
Tolentino swatted a shot by Blackwater’s Mike Ayonayon in the ensuing play that led to an Arwind Santos jumper that made it 84-81 in the last 1:04.
Import Prince Ibeh sank a free throw that pushed NorthPort’s edge to 85-81 even as Bossing reinforcement Cameron Krutwig scored on a layup, only 2.0 ticks left, that proved to be too little, too late.
Foremost among those who heeded Jarencio’s challenge was Ibeh, who pumped in 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Tolentino chipped in 15 markers on three three-pointers, on top of six boards.
Santos, Jerrick Balanza, and Robert Bolick also had 14, 13, and 12 points, respectively, for the Batang Pier.
The come-from-behind triumph served as a big bounce back after NorthPort absorbed a 93-117 drubbing at the hands of TNT five days ago and hiked its mark to 3-2.
Blackwater, coming off a 109-106 stunner over defending champion San Miguel Beer last Wednesday, dropped to 2-3.
“Although nanalo kami today hindi pa rin iyon iyong ine-expect kong maging laro,” Jarencio said. “Hindi kami consistent, iyong consistency ang importante. We have to play defense all the way tapos iyong offense namin darating iyon.
“Siguro marami pa kami talagang i-improve. Iyon lang, learning experience ito. Sana next game mas maging maayos pa iyong. . . unang-una, start namin. Then iyong focus namin, noong team,” he added.
The Batang Pier trailed 37-42 at the halfway mark.
The Bossing padded their lead to as much as 49-41 on a Baser Amer bucket with 8:59 to go in the third before settling for a 68-64 edge heading into the final canto.
Krutwig paced Blackwater with 28 points and 17 rebounds, while Rosario had 17 markers and five caroms.
Amer also got 16 points and three feeds for the Bossing.
