NorthPort survives late Ginebra surge to pick up seventh win

NorthPort avoided what could have been a costly meltdown, pulling off a hard-fought 119-116 win against Barangay Ginebra in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup on Wednesday at the PhilSports Arena.

The Batang Pier wasted an 18-point lead after the Gin Kings unleashed a fourth quarter blitz, but NorthPort fended it off en route to its seventh win to remain at the top of the standings with a 7-1 card.

Ginebra, which was coming off a pair of huge wins against Magnolia and San Miguel, dropped to 5-3.

NorthPort played inspired all througout the first three quarters with Arvin Tolentino suddenly going on attack in the third frame, firing a triple that sent them to a comfortable 94-76 lead.

Ginebra, however, dug deep in its bench by injecting Ralph Cu into the game and the former La Salle player paid it off.

Cu connected on three straight triples, the last of which allowed the crowd darling to cut the deficit to three, before Troy Rosario cleaned up a missed basket to take a 101-100 cushion early in the fourth.

Tolentino, who momentarily lost his shooting, found his touch and ignited for two consecutive three-pointers, 114-105, before he got fouled out with 2:02 left.

That was pretty much how things went in the succeeding plays with Joshua Munzom hitting a buzzer-beating triple for a 117-109 cushion.

Ginebra still tried to climb that wall with Troy Rosario and Justin Brownlee trimming the gap to just one at 117-116 with 8.9 ticks to go. However, a Munzon split and an unusual Brownlee turnover sealed it for NorthPort.

It was a balanced effort for NorthPort with Kadeem Jack tallying 32 points, 16 rebounds, three assists, and one steal while Tolentino and Munzon posted 29 and 27 markers apiece.

Over at Ginebra, Brownlee led the offense with 23 points together with 12 rebounds, four assists, and one block while Scottie Thompson, TJ Abarrientos, and Rosario all finished with 17 markers.

Scores:

NorthPort 119 – Jack 32, Tolentino 29, Munzon 27, Flores 9, Navarro 8, Bulanadi 5, Onwubere 4, Cuntapay 3, Yu 2, Nelle 0, Jalalon 0.

Barangay Ginebra 116 – Brownlee 23, Thompson 17, Rosario 17, Abarrientos 17, Ahanmisi 12, Holt 11, Cu 9, J.Aguilar 8, Tenorio 2.

Quarters: 31-27, 67-58, 98-87, 119-116.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News