Having been on the verge of elimination, the Globalport Batang Pier revived their flatlining playoff life convincingly.
Knowing that a loss would mean them kissing their 2017 Commissioner’s Cup playoff hopes goodbye, the Batang Pier stood firm until the end to upset the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 107-101, Friday night at the Alonte Sports Arena in Biñan, Laguna.
Globalport’s card has now improved to 4-6 to tie with eighth-placers Phoenix Fuel Masters, while Rain or Shine — who could have formally entered the next round had they came out victorious — dropped to an even 5-5 slate.
The returning Terrence Romeo, fresh from his Gilas Pilipinas duties, paced the Batang Pier with an all-around effort of 26 points on 50 percent shooting alongside five rebounds, seven assists, a steal, and a block. But it was the bench that helped Globalport to victory.
“The bench really helped us in spite of Justin sitting on the bench because of foul trouble,” lauded Globalport head coach Franz Pumaren of his reserves, who filled the void left by Justin Harper after garnering his fifth foul during the third quarter.
The Elasto Painters built a comfortable 94-86 cushion with 5:16 to go in the payoff period, but the Batang Pier came back with an 11-3 run capped by Justin Harper’s split charities to go ahead by a point, 98-97, with 1:57 remaining.
40 seconds later, a booming trey by Romeo widened Globalport’s one-point lead to four, 101-97. Duke Crews split his free throws on the other end, but Romeo’s perfect foul shots made it a five-point affair, 103-98, with 53 ticks left.
A Jeffrei Chan triple gave another huge scare, 103-101, with 41 seconds left, but that proved to be RoS’ last hurrah, as a contact lay-up by Sean Anthony plus freebies by Bradwyn Guinto hammered the nail in the Elasto Painters’ coffin.
Harper supplied a double-double of 19 points and 10 boards for Globalport. Anthony and Stanley Pringle each chipped in 15 markers, with the former adding eight rebounds to his stat line.
“The longer the second unit played [well], the longer time that Terrence and Stanley were able to get some rest,” added Pumaren regarding the notable production of the lethal backcourt tandem due to the bench players’ effort.
Crews anchored Rain or Shine’s attack with 23 points to go with 17 rebounds. James Yap provided 22 points highlighted by 6-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc.
Globalport shot 44 percent from the floor, with most of their shots coming from their 25 team assists. However, Rain or Shine won the boards, 53-44, and their bench provided more support with 62 points despite the loss.
Globalport will next face San Miguel next Friday, June 2, 4:15 PM at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum. On the other hand, Rain or Shine will try to bounce back against TNT this Sunday, May 28, 4:30 PM at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
The Scores:
Globalport (107) – Romeo 26, Harper 19, Pringle 15, Anthony 15, Pessumal 9, Cortez 8, Maierhofer 3, Mamaril 2, Forrester 2, Grey 2, Paredes 0.
Rain or Shine (101) – Crews 23, Yap 22, Cruz 14, Chan 10, Tiu 6, Belga 4, Tolomia 3, Norwood 2, Ahanmisi 0.
Quarterscores: 27-14, 48-44, 75-73, 107-101.
