MANILA – NorthPort Batang Pier maintained its unblemished slate in the 2019 Honda PBA Commissioner’s Cup after a 110-86 victory over TNT KaTropa last night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Stanley Pringle made a triumphant return from injury with 22 points, build on five triples, while Robert Bolick and import Prince Ibeh added 21 and 18 markers, respectively, for the Batang Pier (3-0).
The KaTropa surged to an 18-10 start on eight straight points from Roger Pogoy but the Batang Pier cut it to 25-26. TNT pulled away anew at 32-25 in the second canto but NorthPort rallied to within 43-44 at the half.
Both teams traded leads early in the third with the KaTropa slightly on top at 63-59 before the Batang Pier went on a barrage of triples from Pringle, Moala Tautuaa and Garvo Lanete for a 77-65 edge.
The Batang Pier pulled away for good in the fourth period with triples from Pringle and Lanete and Bolick hitting from inside for its largest lead at 110-84 on baskets from Ibeh and Joseph Gabayni.
Jeth Troy Rosario finished with 22 points, including five three-point baskets, while Pogoy chipped in 19 markers for the KaTropa, which suffered its first defeat after a 2-0 start.
Reinforcement Terrence Jones, who posted 41 and 43 points in KaTropa’s first two wins, struggled with just 17 markers, on 5-of-15 shooting, by the tight defense of the Batang Pier.
“Wala akong masabi kasi we almost played a perfect game especially on defense,” said Batang Pier head coach Alfredo Jarencio. “Grabe ‘yung naging depensa namin kay Terrence Jones.”
Meanwhile, the Alaska Aces got back on the winning track following a 100-87 domination over the slumping NLEX Road Warriors. The Aces improved to 2-2 win-loss card, while the Road Warriors dropped to 0-3.
Jeron Teng top-scored with 20 points while reinforcement Robert Daniels and Chris Banchero had 17 markers each for the Aces. Toni Mitchell posted 34 points in his PBA return for the Road Warriors./PN
