MANILA – NorthPort Batang Pier continued its late conference surge as it took down Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings, 100-97, to formalize its entry in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Honda PBA Philippine Cup last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Robert Bolick came up with a huge three-pointer to surge the Batang Pier ahead 98-97 with under a minute left in the game. Stanley Pringle then canned two free throws to seal the victory.
Bolick finished the match with 24 points, while Sean Anthony and Moala Tautuaa had 19 and 14 markers, respectively, for the Batang Pier, which improved to 5-6 and will face Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the quarterfinals round.
It was a seesaw battle in the first two quarters with the Batang Pier on top 47-45 before they created distance in the second half on exploits of Bolick and build its largest lead at eight points.
The Kings turned to its seldomly-used players to claw its way back in the match and took the lead at 97-95 on a jumper by Jervy Cruz before the Batang Pier came up with a 5-0 run to clinch its third straight win.
In the first game, Magnolia Hotshots prevented complications heading into the quarterfinals round after a 102-74 manhandling of the NLEX Road Warriors and set up a best-of-three quarterfinals showdown with the Kings.
Paul Lee finished the match with 26 points, including six triples, while Aldrech Ramos and Andy Mark Barroca had 15 and 14 markers, respectively, for the Hotshots, which clinched the No. 6 spot heading into the quarterfinals with 6-5 win-loss slate.
The Hotshots immediately imposed its presence as baskets from Lee, Jio Jalalon and Rome dela Rosa for an 18-10 lead. The Road Warriors came to within 27-31 but triples by Lee and Justin Melton gave the Hotshots a 46-30 halftime lead.
The Hotshots did not allow the Road Warriors to come close in the second half as conversions from Barroca and Lee gave them their largest lead at 31 points on a triple by Peter June Simon.
With the lopsided defeat coupled by the Batang Pier’s win over the Kings, the 4-7 Road Warriors dropped to eighth spot and will have a knockout game with the Alaska Aces for the last quarterfinals seat on Friday night./PN
