MANILA – Robert Bolick Jr. drilled a go-ahead trey as NorthPort Batang Pier escaped with a 92-89 victory over Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters in the 2022 PBA Commissioner’’s Cup last night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Down 84-89 with over a minute left, Shej Roi Sumang rose to the occasion for the Batang Pier with a layup and a triple to tie the score at 89-all before he assisted Bolick for a corner trey to surge the Batang Pier ahead for good at 92-89 with 12 seconds left.
Bolick finished the game with 21 points, including four triples, while Sumang chipped in 15 markers for the Batang Pier, which were one day removed from a blockbuster trade where they gave up star Jamie Malonzo to Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings.
Arvin Tolentino, one of the four role players sent by the Kings to the Batang Pier for Malonzo, had a solid 17 points, build on four triples, to go with seven assists, six rebounds, career-high four blocks and two steals in his NorthPort debut.
Reinforcement Prince Ibeh contributed double-double 19 points and 15 rebounds to go with four steals and two assists before fouling out, while Arwind Santos ended with 10 markers for the Batang Pier.
Javee Mocon tallied double-double 24 points and 13 rebounds, import Kaleb Wesson added double-double 14 points and 15 rebounds, while Encho Serrano had 10 points for the Fuel Masters.
In the first game, Bay Area Dragons had a rousing start as they cruised to a wire-to-wire 133-87 victory over Blackwater Bossing in a most lopsided win by a guest team in the league.
From a 7-all score in the first quarter, the Dragons zoomed to a 14-0 blast behind Myles Powell and Glen Yang for a 21-7 edge. The Bossing cut it to 15-23 but shots from Yang and Powell made it a 36-19 count.
The Dragons continued its rampage in the second quarter with conversions from Zongwei Zhu and Hayden Blankley as the lead reached 64-36 at the half and later at its largest at 46 points.
Powell top-scored with 41 points, including four triples, to go with eight rebounds, Yang added 22 markers, seven assists and five rebounds, while Zhu and Kobey Ketavong Lam chipped in 13 markers each for the Dragons.
BOX SCORE:
NORTHPORT 92 – Bolick 21, Ibeh 19, Tolentino 16, Sumang 15, Santos 10, Balanza 6, Ferrer 3, Salado 2, Dela Cruz 0, Chan 0, Calma 0, Taha 0.
PHOENIX 89 – Mocon 24, Wesson 14, Serrano 10, Tio 10, Jazul 7, Camacho 7, Muyang 6, Lalata 4, Garcia 4, Rios 3, Lojera 0, Adamos 0, Robles 0.
Quarterscores: 12-28, 37-37, 61-65, 92-89./PN
