NorthPort forward Arvin Tolentino.–PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—NorthPort used a stifling defense to frustrate Meralco, 90-85, in the PBA Philippine Cup on Sunday at Araneta Coliseum.
In a game that saw the Batang Pier improve to 3-1, coach Bonnie Tan’s wards forced the Bolts to 25 miscues that led to 31 turnover points.
“Our players right now, who we call our luxury, challenge them to play defense better. They’re challenged to get longer playing minutes and to do that, they have to do well on defense, not just in scoring,” said Tan.
“We were giving up lots of points [in past games] but now playing against Meralco, we were very good in executing the half court defense. That’s what we emphasized in the pre-game. Slowly, we’re getting stops and we’re doing it against a team like Meralco.”
Meralco, which dropped to 1-3 card, held a 51-45 lead in the third quarter before NorthPort unloaded an explosive 14-4 run to take control of the game.
The Bolts had moments in the fourth quarter that inched them closer to NorthPort only to be shut down by their own costly mistakes.
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Meralco trailed by just five in the fourth quarter, 74-69, before Cliff Hodge lost control of the rock for a Cade Flores breakaway layup that extended Batang Pier’s advantage to seven, 76-69, with 7:42 to go.
A long back and forth saw Meralco stick to Northport, 82-77, but an Allein Maliksi fumble resulted in Joshua Munzon scoring in transition for another basket.
“I tell them not to fight over points in the game. That’s going to come naturally. All we need is aggressiveness,” said Tan.
NorthPort averted disaster in the final seconds of the game when Chris Newsome sank a bucket plus a foul with 8.2 ticks to go, inching closer to Batang Pier, 88-85.
Newsome, who finished with 15 points and six turnovers, missed the freebie, which ultimately spelled the end for Meralco.
NorthPort’s front court tandem of Arvin Tolentino and JM Calma combined for 32 points to help extend the squad’s winning streak to three. Paul Zamar and Cade Flores helped the cause with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
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Aaron Black finished with 18 points, four rebounds and four assists in the loss while Raymond Almazan dropped 12 points and six rebounds.