In the first three quarters of the GlobalPort Batang Pier’s match with the Meralco Bolts on Friday night at the SMART Araneta Coliseum, Stanley Pringle was a non-factor: he was 1-of-8 from the field.
But Pringle turned into Mr. Fourth Quarter, much to the delight of the neon nation.
The 31-year-old gunslinger shot 5-of-10 in the final canto, scoring 13 of his 17 points to help steer the Batang Pier to an 86-85 victory — their first victory in the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup.
“I’ve been trying to find my rhythm. Whenever you’re in a slump, you just got to keep on going,” said the Filipino-American guard after the match that sent their card to 1-1.
“Usually, when I get in a slump, it lasts a couple of games but I found my rhythm in the fourth quarter a little bit,” Pringle added.
“But still, I try to find my outside shot.”
For his performance, Pringle has his teammates to thank, for always reminding him not to get caught up too much with the frustration a shooting slump could bring.
“You got good teammates that tell you to keep on shooting and tell me, ‘Don’t worry. We need you to hit that shot’, so eventually, it’s gonna come,” said a grateful five-year pro.
He may have found his stroke once more, but for the California-born cager, what makes him more satisfied is the fact that the Batang Pier have now entered the win column.
“You always want to bounce back when you lose games, just like in the all-Filipino conference we lost the first two games and came back and made the playoffs,” Pringle reflected.
“Whether it’s basketball or life in general, when you go down, you get back up.”
