Northport made sure to get the job done before its long break, hacking out a 90-85 victory over Meralco to extend its streak to three in the PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup on Sunday at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The Batang Pier are off to their best start under head coach Bonnie Tan, rising to 3-1 with their sole loss coming by way of a 107-100 overtime defeat at the hands of the NLEX Road Warriors last March 1.
This is also Northport’s first win over Meralco since the 2022–23 PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
“During our first two games, we were 1-1. Sa viewing talagang we identified our witnesses and strengths,” said Northport head coach Bonnie Tan.
“Sinabi namin na malaking sacrifice ang ginagawa ng players sa pag play ng multiple positions kaya gumaganda yung chemistry namin,” he added.
The Batang Pier had to earn this win, however.
They saw their 88-81 lead with 1:04 remaining, dwindle down to just three with a little over seven seconds left.
After a miss from the stripe by Chris Newsome, a rebound by Zav Lucero led to an outlet by Arvin Tolentino to a wide open Cade Flores to seal the win.
“Playing against Meralco, we knew they were coming back. We made sure na makuha yung composure namin makuha tong game na ‘to against Meralco,” said Tan.
Tolentino and JM Calma showed the way for Northport with 16 points apiece with the former also grabbing eight rebounds.
Paul Zamar and Flores scored 14 and 13 points respectively from off the bench.
Lucero tallied seven points, five rebounds, and five assists while Munzon produced six points, six rebounds, five assists, and four steals.
Northport will head to a long break before facing TNT on March 5.
Meanwhile, Aaron Black paced Meralco with 18 points. Newsome got 15 points but committed six turnovers while Raymond Almanzan scored 12 points and grabbed six boards.
The Bolts fell to 1-3 and will take on Ginebra next on Friday.
The Scores:
Northport 90 – Calma 16, Tolentino 16, Zamar 14, Flores 13, Adamos 7, Chan 7, Lucero 7, Munzon 6, Yu 4, Paraiso 0, Bulanadi 0, Rosales 0
Meralco 85 – Black 18, Newsome 15, Almazan 12, Quinto 8, Rios 6, Mendoza 6, Jose 6, Banchero 5, Maliksi 4, Torres 3, Hodge 2, Caram 0
Quarterscores: 19-15, 43-43, 68-64, 90-85
