NorthPort did it on both ends of the floor down the stretch to silence Hong Kong Eastern for the 120-113 bounce-back win and take the solo lead in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup, Friday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
Kadeem Jack rose for a two-handed jam before Arvin Tolentino kissed it off the glass to make it a 116-105 spread with 1:04 left to play and both those buckets off the break came from crucial interceptions by Joshua Munzon and Fran Yu.
Jack and Yu would also keep the guest team at bay despite back-to-back fours by Kobey Lam, coming through with perfect trips to the foul line in the final 14.3 to eventually get themselves back on track after losing to Phoenix last Tuesday.
But more than regaining their winning ways, Coach Bonnie Tan and Co. find themselves on top of the standings again as they improved to 6-1.
“We just took advantage [of the fact that] they just came from Hong Kong,” said the veteran mentor as Eastern hosted and then beat San Miguel in an East Asia Super League tiff just two nights ago in Wan Chai. “We outran them.”
“Na-recover ulit namin ‘yung transition points namin, and ‘yung assists namin,” furthered Tan, visibly satisfied with the much better showing he witnessed from his charges after playing a step slower against the Fuel Masters.
Jack top-scored for NorthPort with a game-high 38 points — highlighted by a perfect 12-of-12 shooting from the charity stripe — and nine rebounds, together with two assists, three steals, and two blocks to submit a full line.
Tolentino himself dropped a 30-piece as well with 35 on an efficient 10-of-16 shooting from the floor, alongside six rebounds, three assists, and a block.
“It’s always fun ‘pag dayo ‘yung kalaban mo, or when you play outside the country,” the former Gilas Pilipinas forward said. “Gusto mong manalo.”
Munzon finished with 15 points, including a four-pointer late in the third against two defenders, while William Navarro added 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Batang Pier will now head into the holiday break before returning to play on January 8 against Barangay Ginebra in the same venue.
Chris McLaughlin, on the other hand, led Eastern with 26 points and 19 rebounds with five assists in the loss that dropped their card to 5-2.
Hayden Blankley notched a personal double-double of 24 points and 10 rebounds. Lam made 18 points while Glen Yang added 13 and eight assists.
Coach Mensur Bajramovic and his unit will now shift their focus on December 22’s game versus the Beermen still at Philsports, looking to beat them again.
The Scores:
NorthPort 120 – Jack 38, Tolentino 35, Munzon 15, Navarro 10, Yu 9, Nelle 5, Flores 4, Onwubere 4, Bulanadi 0, Miranda 0, Cuntapay 0.
Hong Kong Eastern 113 – McLaughlin 26, Blankley 24, Lam 18, Yang 13, Guinchard 9, Chan 7, Xu 6, Cheung 4, Leung 3, Zhu 3, Pok 0.
Quarterscores: 27-32, 63-60, 90-87, 120-113.
