Batang Pier stall Road Warriors, boost own quarters hopes

MANILA,Philippines — NorthPort pulled off what NLEX’s five previous opponents failed to do, stalling the rampaging Road Warriors via a 102-94 reversal to bolster its own quarterfinal drive in the PBA Governors’ Cup last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Facing a must-win situation, the Batang Pier rose to the challenge, repeatedly fighting back from deficits that reached as high as 11 and turning things around with a game-changing second-half performance en route to their fourth win in 10 outings.

The Batang Pier wiped out NLEX’s seven-point lead in the third with a 20-10 windup to get in front then turned to Michael Qualls and Christian Standhardinger to establish separation from the Road Warriors, 96-87.

And unlike their last game where they fought back from 26 points, the Road Warriors couldn’t perform their trademark comeback and saw an end to their five-game streak. Still, the 8-2 Road Warriors are guaranteed of a twice-to-beat incentive in the next round.

“It’s a total team effort. Players wanted to win this game because it’s do-or-die for us. We would have been out of the conference already had we lost,” said NorthPort coach Pido Jarencio, whose wards moved to a tie for seventh with Columbian Dyip.

“It was a bad start for us but come the second and third quarters we’re able to get into our groove then we played consistently,” added Jarencio, who capped the post-game interview with a “Go USTe” chant in celebration of  the finals-clinching victory of his alma mater in the UAAP stepladder semis.   

Qualls and Standhardinger took the cudgels for NorthPort with the import submitting 36 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, and the Fil-German making 23 markers and 19 boards. Sean Anthony also made significant contribution with 19 markers.

Manny Harris shot 34 and grabbed eight boards to lead NLEX, which remained on top of the pack alongside Meralco (8-2).

NLEX appeared  ready to blow NorthPort away, taking a 28-17 tear, before Qualls and Standhardinger led an 8-0 counter to go to within three.

The Road Warriors clung to the lead and even maintained a 68-61 tear halfway through the third but the Batang Pier kept on fighting.

Rejuvenated Alaska later forced a three-way logjam at No. 7 with a 105-102 dispatching of skidding Phoenix Pulse.

The Aces seized a 13-point cushion then held off the Fuel Masters’ late rally to grab their third straight win for a 4-6 overall card.