After a lackadaisical 0-2 start to their conference, the transitioning Globalport Batang Pier needed to grow up quickly. And it needed to happen fast to forget about the meltdown they experienced five days ago against Barangay Ginebra San Miguel.
Globalport, the second-worst defensive team in the league, were able to do so Friday evening, limiting the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters to a season-low 70 points to notch their maiden win of the season.
“Yung mga players gusto talaga manalo,” said Globalport head coach Pido Jarencio. “It’s a team effort at yung breaks nakuha namin. Lesson learned sa amin yung mga nakaraang game.
“We notched our target which is giving up below 80 points.”
One of those players who showed great determination was eight-year pro Sean Anthony.
Despite going cold from the field — shooting a horrid 1-for-11 clip, the 6-foot-4 forward did the little things for Globalport. In a first since 2010, he notched a rare rebound-assist double-double with 13 rebounds and 12 assists to go along with four steals and a block.
“I mean rebounding is just effort out there but the assists, I was just trying to make the right play.
“There was a lot of height on Rain or Shine so I was just trying to find the open guy. Unfortunately, I couldn’t hit my open shots,” said Anthony, who was averaging 24.0 points and 9.0 rebounds prior to this game.
Picking up their first win of the season, Anthony deflected all the credit to his teamamtes for staying composed amid the late-game flurry attempted by Gabe Norwood and the Elasto Painters.
“Credit to our team for playing our best defense so far,” added Anthony as Rain or Shine shot a nightmarish 29 percent from the field. “We held Rain or Shine to just 70 points right? First two games we were averaging around 109. The most important thing was our team defense.”
Seeing the inspired play of his teammates — especially their rookies and sophomores, Anthony hopes that this will be a start of a string of good things to come for the franchise.
“Keep it up. We need to keep up our defense. We had a few lapses in the end but we were able to recover. So, that’s it man,” Anthony shared.
“We just got to sustain it every game.”
