MANILA – NorthPort Batang Pier continued its second wind in the 2019 Honda PBA Philippine Cup following a 94-84 victory over the Alaska Aces last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Sean Anthony led the way with double-double 24 points and 16 rebounds, while Stanley Pringle and Moala Tautuaa added 21 and 14 markers, respectively, for Batang Pier (4-6).
Trailing for most part of the first half, the Batang Pier got it going in the third period with conversions from Jonathan Grey, Anthony and Tautuaa to build its largest lead at 71-57 on a free throw by Lervin Flores.
The Aces came up with a strong 15-0 counter attack on a triple and three-point play by rookie Jesper Ayaay and inside hits from Elvin Jake Pascual to regain the advantage at 73-70.
Pringle then steadied the ship for the Batang Pier with eight straight points to take an 83-76 lead. Back-to-back hits by Anthony and a triple from Juan Paolo Taha brought the lead back to 13 points with under two minutes in the game.
Carl Bryan Cruz tallied 23 points, while Joachim Thoss and Simon Enciso added 14 and 11 markers, respectively, for the Aces, which slumped to its second straight loss to drop to 4-7.
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings, meanwhile, solidified its hold on the third spot heading into the quarterfinals round after defeating the already eliminated Meralco Bolts, 86-76.
From a seesaw battle in the opening half, the Kings gained control of the ballgame in the third period on inside hits from Gregory Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar for its largest lead of 15 points.
The Bolts, however, attempted to capture a win in their final elimination round by coming to as close as 73-79 but timely hits from LA Tenorio and Slaughter restored a double-digit edge for the Kings.
Slaughter finished the match with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Aguilar added 12 markers for the Kings, which improved to 7-3 win-loss card. Trevis Jackson had 18 markers for the 3-8 Bolts./PN
