Arvin Tolentino saved NorthPort from a massive meltdown against Blackwater, 115-113, to keep their quarterfinal hopes alive in the PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup on Saturday at the Caloocan Sports Complex.
The star winger knocked down the go-ahead jumper against Christian David with 7.6 seconds left, and Rey Nambatac missing his trey on the other end enabled the Batang Pier to escape after coughing up a 19-point lead.
Tolentino fell just short of a rare triple-double as he finished with 27 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists to lead his side in ending a harrowing five-game skid and finish the elimination round with a 5-6 record.
NorthPort’s win helped Ginebra (6-3) clinch a quarters spot, with Phoenix, who’s toting a 3-7 card, now out of playoff contention. The number of wins for an outright QF spot is now down to 6, per PBA stats chief Fidel Mangonon III.
Joshua Munzon helped out with 16 points, five rebounds, six assists, and two steals. Rookie big man Damie Cuntapay supplied a season-high 15 points, which he all earned from beyond the arc as he went 5-of-8.
Zavier Lucero made 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting and seven rebounds with four assists and two steals, while Fran Yu added 11 points in the win.
Wasted by NorthPort’s dramatic win courtesy of Tolentino, meanwhile, were the season-high performances of rookie David and Troy Rosario.
Rosario fired 33 points on a 70-percent clip from the field, nine rebounds, and six assists, while David had 26 and 15 as the frontcourt duo led the charge after the Bossing fell behind by 19 points twice in the third quarter.
A David jam and a three-point play by Rosario propelled them to a 113-107 lead with 1:42 remaining in the game, but Tolentino took over.
Back-to-back hits by Tolentino cut the gap to a field goal, 113-111, and it didn’t help Blackwater at all that Nambatac got called for an offensive foul against Yu, who was hounding him on defense, with less than a minute to go.
The game would get tied at 113-all with 47.4 seconds left after Tolentino got fouled by David and the game would start to slip away from them, with Justin Chua and David missing from point-blank approaching the last 30 seconds.
David, after missing those cleanup attempts twice, would soon witness Tolentino bury the game-winner in his face, and the Bossing eventually absorbed their sixth consecutive loss. They dropped to 3-6 in the standings.
The loss has made their last two elimination round games must-win outings to keep their flickering quarterfinal hopes on, first against the current top-seed San Miguel Beer on May 1 and then versus the Fuel Masters on May 4.
The Scores:
NorthPort 115 – Tolentino 27, Munzon 16, Cuntapay 15, Lucero 14, Yu 11, Rosales 7, Chan 7, Flores 6, Zamar 5, Navarro 5, Bulanadi 2.
Blackwater 113 – Rosario 33, David 26, Chua 11, Nambatac 10, Casio 9, Kwekuteye 7, Hill 5, Suerte 5, Guinto 4, Ilagan 3, Sena 0, Escoto 0, Jopia 0, Tungcab 0.
Quarterscores: 32-30, 66-48, 88-81, 115-113.
