MANILA – NorthPort Batang Pier got away with a 110-108 victory over the Columbian Dyip in the 2019 Honda PBA Commissioner’s Cup last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Robert Bolick missed the potential game-winning layup but still got away with two points after Dyip’s import Lester Prosper touched the basket to surge the Batang Pier ahead.
Moala Tautuaa led the way with 23 points as Bolick and Kevin Ferrer chipped in 21 markers apiece for the Batang Pier, which get back on the winning track to improve to 8-2 win-loss slate.
Prince Ibeh had 17 points, 15 rebounds and six blocks, while Juan Nicholas Elorde returned from injury to finish with 14 points, including three straight outside hits in the final minutes of the match.
The Batang Pier leaned on early exploits by Tautuaa to take a 23-14 advantage but the Dyip responded with a rally to take a 35-31 edge before NorthPort took a 52-50 halftime edge on Bolick’s hits.
NorthPort pulled to a 77-68 edge in the third on outside hits from Ferrer but Columbian had another answer for a 99-95 upperhand but Elorde canned in consecutive treys to give the lead back to NorthPort before Dyip had its last push for 106-all count.
Prosper finished the match with double-double 36 points and 17 rebounds, Jaymar Perez also had double-double 29 points and 12 boards for the Dyip, which dropped to 2-7.
Meanwhile, TNT KaTropa continued its hold on the top spot of the standings after a 102-81 domination over the slumping Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. The KaTropa rises to 8-1 while the Painters dropped to 3-5.
Holding to a 20-point advantage in the second half, the KaTropa saw its lead trimmed to as low as eight points but baskets from Terrence Jones, Roger Pogoy and Jayson Castro widened the edge anew as it reached its biggest at 21 points.
Jones tallied triple-double 33 points, 21 rebounds and 13 assists, while Pogoy and Castro added 19 and 15 markers, respectively, for the KaTropa. Denzel Bowles had 28 points for the Painters./PN
