Playing in a tight game for three quarters, the GlobalPort Batang Pier, behind the backcourt tandem of Stanley Pringle and Terrence Romeo, surged ahead in the final canto to pull off a 101-94 win over the Star Hotshots on Friday evening at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Everything went the way of GlobalPort in the opening frame as they jumped right out of the gates with a 12-1 surge. Despite Ian Sangalang and James Yap making buckets to slice the lead down, a strong defensive ending to the first quarter went the way of GlobalPort. Terrence Romeo scored after a big three by Norbert Torres to end the first and give his team a 24-17 edge.
Star had its best quarter of the game during the second quarter as they tallied 29 points. However, the Batang Pier had the first surge of the quarter to extend their lead to 11 at 47-36 with less than three minutes left. Doug Kramer and a big three by Keith Jensen were responsible for the sudden gap. Star would then respond with its own 10-1 counter late with good ball movement before entering the break.
The Batang Pier would erect another separation in the third period as the three-guard setup paid dividends as they pushed the pace in their favor. Stanley Pringle and Terrence Romeo led the charge for a 59-50 lead. On the other end, Star erased the lead quickly with their run capped by another triple by Torres. After three quarter of back-and-forth action, GlobalPort led by one.
And then came the final period of action wherein GlobalPort built the lead for good. They got out and led by as much as 16 at the 6:31 mark on two freethrows made by Pringle. For the next five minutes, they would maintain the double-digit lead as the good offensive spurt was sufficient for the win. Star struggled making a run as threes by Barroca and Simon were answered efficiently by Global’s transition game.
As GlobalPort pushed the ball, they scored more on the break and points off turnovers, 14-8 and 28-7 respectively. They also committed less turnovers, 14-22 and were plus nine from three-point territory.
Pringle topped all scorers with 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting. He also had four boards and five assists. Terrence Romeo added 20 points but shot a poor 8-of 24. Doug Kramer chipped in a 14 point, 10 rebound effort. For Star, Marc Pingris led the team off the bench with 14 points and seven rebounds with 35 minutes of action.
The Batang Pier (1-1) looks to make its first win streak of the season against the Barako Bull (0-1) while Star (1-2) looks to bounce back against the NLEX Road Warriors (2-0). Both games will be played at 3pm and 5:15 respectively on Sunday, November 8 at the PhilSports Arena.
The Scores:
GlobalPort (101) – Pringle 23, Romeo 20, Kramer 14, Jensen 12, Washington 10, Yeo 8, Mamaril 8, Maierhofer 4, Paniamogan 2, Sumang 0, Uyloan 0.
Star (94) – Pingris 14, Barroca 13, Simon 12, Torres 10, Yap 10, Pascual 7, Taha 7, Melton 4, Pascual 4, Mallari 2.
Quarterscores: 24-17, 48-46, 74-73, 101-94.
