William Navarro reset his career-high as NorthPort compounded on the struggles of Terrafirma, 112-93, to break through into the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup, Friday evening at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The do-it-all winger was on-point offensively and finished with 31 points on 13-of-20 shooting from the floor, as he led the Batang Pier’s second-half breakaway toward the quick-bounce back from their season-debut loss to TNT.
He scored the first four points of an 8-0 run — the other half courtesy of a buzzer-beating heave by Fran Yu from beyond half-court — to end the said period with an 85-70 lead, and the game would never be in question.
Navarro also went 3-of-5 from deep and had five rebounds, two assists, and two steals to lead NorthPort in barging to the Group A win column.
“I’m just confident,” said Navarro, who logged a total of 25 minutes and 10 seconds. “I know my shots are gonna go in. It’s not surprising for me.
“When I play more, which Coach obviously gave me the opportunity, I’m gonna deliver. That’s the thing. So I just have to be on the court more,” he added.
The victory was also a warm welcome for the returning Venky Jois, who was brought back to take the place of Taylor Johns.
The Australian bruiser, who first played in the 2023-24 Commissioner’s Cup, had 16 points, 15 rebounds, and six assists, plus a steal and a block.
“Venky is our resident import,” said head coach Bonnie Tan, as he addressed the import switch. “In terms of familiarity with our locals, nandoon na siya. Hindi lang siya umabot ng first game namin, but he was here already.
“He has some personal commitments lang kaya we have our backup import namin, si Taylor Johns,” the veteran bench tactician added. “We all know that he played well. Hindi naman tayo kukuha ng hindi rin maayos.
“But, talagang we have a commitment with Venky based on our last conference. He made us enter the quarterfinals … Nagkaroon ng mutual understanding na he’ll be back as our resident import ng NorthPort team..”
Joshua Munzon hit a four-pointer barely two minutes into the game and ended up with 14 points, alongside three rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
Main man Arvin Tolentino, on the other hand, fell just an assist shy of a rare triple-double. He registered 10 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists, which he also laced with three steals and a block in the victory.
Terrafirma, meanwhile, was led by the 19 points and five assists of lead guard Juami Tiongson in the loss, its second in as many outings as the team was coming off a 127-95 beatdown from Converge last Wednesday.
Import Antonio Hester and Kevin Ferrer scored 13 points apiece, while Christian Standhardinger added 10 markers in the rout.
The Scores:
NorthPort 112 – Navarro 31, Jois 16, Munzon 14, Tolentino 10, Amores 8, Jalalon 8, Yu 7, Nelle 6, Tratter 5, Cuntapay 3, Bulanadi 2, Flores 2, Taha 0.
Terrafirma 93 – Tiongson 19, Pringle 17, Hester 13, Ferrer 13, Standhardinger 10, Carino 9, Cahilig 5, Hernandez 5, Ramos 2, Olivario 0.
Quarterscores: 30-20, 51-43, 85-70, 112-93.
