Scoring a plus 30 from downtown, the GlobalPort Batang Pier defeated the Blackwater Elites, 100-76 to notch their second win in the tournament held at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Friday evening.
GlobalPort started the opening quarter with a defensive-themed pace as they forced Blackwater to forced shots early in their shotclock. The Batang Pier duo of Terrence Romeo and Patrick O’Bryant jumpstarted GlobalPort’s offense, building a 13-7 advantage in the early goings. Two free throws by Raphy Reyes sliced the lead down to six, but his team only produced 13 points at the end of 12 minutes of play.
In the second period, GlobalPort used their hot shooting from the perimeter to distance themselves against Blackwater. Moreover, triples from Anthony Semerad and Stanley Pringle helped Batang Pier erect a double-digit lead halfway through the quarter at 33-21. After, Blackwater was at the losing end of an 8-3 run as they struggled with multiple turnovers that haunted their offensive rhythm at the middle of the quarter. GlobalPort eventually finished their strong second period capped by a strong layup by Keith Jensen and a Terrence Romeo triple to outscore Blackwater, 30-19 en route to a 17 point lead entering halftime.
Marcus Douthit led the charge to a good mini 6-2 run established by Blackwater to start the second half, but Romeo and O’Bryant responded both from the outside and inside, respectively, to make it a 58-39 advantage in favor of the Batang Pier. After Douthit once again scored inside against the GlobalPort bigs, Stanley Pringle led the charge in the Batang Pier. Pringle scored half in his team’s 14-2 rampage late in the third that separated their squad for good against the struggling Elites. By the end of the third, Blackwater scored another 30-point quarter and led by as much as 32 in the blowout game.
In the fourth, Blackwater managed to trim the deficit down to 24 in the first minutes but Ronjay Buenafe knocked down a triple to serve as a rally extinguisher. Mini-rallies put up by the Elites came in late as the fourth period served as garbage time as the game was already decided due to the strong third quarter GlobalPort established.
Batang Pier shot 12 out of 31 from three-point territory compared to Blackwater’s two out of 24 attempts. Despite Blackwater having more blocks at 10-3, the Elites got outrebounded, 50-62.
Romeo ended up leading his squad for the second straight game offensively with 20 points and five rebounds. Pringle also played a stellar outing as he tallied 18 markers including four from downtown. On the other hand, Douthit led the Elites with 24 points and 15 rebounds in 45 minutes of action.
The scores:
GlobalPort(100) – Romeo 20, Pringle 18, Buenafe 16, O’Bryant 11, Kramer 7, Mamaril 6, Isip 6, Jensen 4, Semerad 3, Krayem 2, Taha 0, Caperal 0
Blackwater(76) – Douthit 24, Cervantes 11, Reyes 9, Laure 8, Heruela 7, Celiz 6, Salvacion 5, Acuna 2, Golla 2, Gamalinda 2, Timberlake 0, Bulawan 0 , Ballesteros 0
Quarters: 19-13, 49-32, 79-49, 100-76
