NORTHPORT pulled off the improbable by stunning previously undefeated Meralco in its own defensive game to carve out a 109-98 victory yesterday in the PBA Governors Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
While repeatedly harassing and stymieing the Bolts, especially in the middle quarters, returning Robert Bolick led the Batang Pier’s balanced offense that enabled them to raze an early 19-point deficit and even take a couple of 20-point leads, the last at 90-70.
It was a matter of keeping Meralco at bay from there and NorthPort encountered little problem in scoring its first win after losing its first five games while snapping the Bolts’ four-game winning skein.
Winning coach Pido Jarencio later said the breakthrough was long overdue. “Actually, ‘yung 0-5 heartbreak losses, lalo na sa first three games,” he said.
“Ngayon, kahit papaano, nag-settle (down) na team, pati import nagkaroon na ng chemistry sa mga kasama. Siguro law of averages din. Hindi naman puwedeng puro na lang tayo talo.”
Jarencio said team was able to make stops consistently, something they failed to do in a 90-104 loss to Rain or Shine last Saturday.
“It’s all about defense. We worked on our defense after nu’ng Rain or Shine (game), talagang tutok sa depensa. Ayun, naging aggressive… they put a lot of energy sa defense kaya ayun nag-iba tempo ng game. It all started with defense,” he said.
NorthPort limited Meralco to just 32 points in the second and third quarters while scoring 63 to go into the fourth period with an 81-64 cushion.
NorthPort’s offense, which sputtered at the start, also picked up with Jamel Artis finishing with 26 points on top of eight rebounds and four assists while Bolick, who missed the game against the Elasto Painters, finished with 22 points, seven boards, six assists and three steals.
Jarencio also got contributions from practically all the other players he fielded in as NorthPort bucked the loss of Kevin Ferrer right in the first quarter due to an injured left elbow.
Arwind Santos wound up with a double-double of 16 points and 10 boards while Jamie Malonzo, Jerrick Balanza and Troy Rike chipped in at least 10 points each. Even Roi Sumang scattered nine points and posted the game’s highlight play by putting Meralco import Tony Bishop on skates with a spin move before laying up that made it a 103-88 count.
