The Globalport Batang Pier scored one of their biggest wins in the 2017 Governor’s Cup, as they did well enough down the stretch to repel and stun the TNT Katropa, 119-112, Friday night at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
The Batang Pier — who are coming off a loss to the San Miguel Beermen from exactly a week ago — improved to an even 3-3 card. Furthermore, their victory over TNT is their first in the five meetings they had this season.
The Katropa, on the other hand, failed to win their third straight game and have dropped to 4-3.
“It’s a morale-boosting win for us,” said Globalport head coach Franz Pumaren. “We came in prepared, offensively and defensively. TNT played last Wednesday. They came in tired, and that gave us the opportunity.”
“Hopefully we can sustain this run on Sunday,” he added, pertaining to their game versus the NLEX Road Warriors this coming Sunday, their second game in three days.
Stanley Pringle led the Batang Pier with a career-high 30 points on 10-of-16 shooting alongside eight rebounds. Import Murphey Holloway supplied 24 markers, 17 boards, six assists, three steals, and three blocks.
After a tightly-contested first half, Globalport made strides in the next half. They found their groove in the third canto, which led to a stellar fourth quarter where they led by as much as 15, 109-94, after a Holloway jam with 4:51 to go.
The Katropa relied on their comeback experience in the end-game. Roger Pogoy nailed a triple from the left wing to lift his side within six, 112-118, but 11.4 seconds weren’t enough for TNT to complete the fightback.
After Mac Baracael split on the foul line with four ticks left, both the final score and the win were settled.
Sean Anthony supplied 21 points and six rebounds for Globalport. Terrence Romeo made 13 points on 14 shots, while Mile Cortez scored 11.
The loss puts in vain Glen Rice, Jr.’s outing, as he made 39 points and 13 rebounds. However, he committed 11 turnovers. Pogoy backed him up with 26 markers, with 11 coming from the fourth quarter alone.
Jayson Castro produced 15, but he had a sour shooting night as he only shot 5-of-12 from the floor.
Globalport shot 52 percent, and their assists numbers were impressive, having racked up 24. However, they had 22 errors, which led to 30 points for TNT. The Katropa, meanwhile, won the rebounding battle, 54-49.
Globalport will be up for a challenge versus NLEX this Sunday, September 3, 4:30 PM at the SMART Araneta Coliseum. TNT, meanwhile, will try to bounce back versus the Meralco Bolts on September 6, Wednesday, 4:15 PM also at the Big Dome.
The Scores:
Globalport 119 – Pringle 30, Holloway 24, Anthony 21, Romeo 13, Cortez 11, Guinto 9, Baracael 7, Mamaril 4, Hubalde 0, Arana 0, Celiz 0.
TNT 112 – Rice 39, Pogoy 26, Castro 15, De Ocampo 12, Williams 7, Rosario 5, Reyes 4, Semerad 3, Tautuaa 1, Lingganay 0.
Quarterscores: 18-25, 57-48, 86-76, 119-112.
