Romeo shines in clutch as GlobalPort sends Ginebra to 0-2 start

Terrence Romeo scattered 15 points in the first half then rifled in two big three-pointers down the stretch as Globalport grinded out an 89-85 win over Barangay Ginebra in their Valentine’s Day matchup in the Oppo PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Billy Mamaril provided big help in making eight of his 12 points in the final canto while Stanley Pringle sealed the deal with two free throws in the last two seconds.

Brian Williams bucked early fouls and had his crucial contribution as the Batang Pier broke into the win-column after losing their conference debut against the Mahindra Enforcers Friday.

“It’s a total team effort and I appreciated our defense tonight. Noong first game namin na-flash sa TV monitor no defense kami. Tonight, we had an excellent defense,” said Globalport coach Pido Jarencio.

“Noong first game, wala kaming energy on defense. Ang bigat nung nagbigay kami ng 31 points against
Mahindra first quarter pa lang,” Jarencio also said.

The Globalport bench chieftain made special mention of the effort of Williams in his second game in the local pro league.

“Ang laki ng improvement nya,” said Jarencio of Williams who came through with 19 points and 17 rebounds against the comebacking Greg Slaughter and the Gin Kings.

Ginebra fought back from a 15-point deficit but lost a close game at the finish, thus, suffering a second straight setback following an earlier defeat at the hands of NLEX Road Warriors.

With a better clip from the arc and from the stripe, the Batang Pier erected a 15-point spread at 52-37 before taking the half at 56-43.

Globalport knocked in 7-of-15 three-pointers and 7-of-7 charities as against Ginebra’s 1-of-6 triples and 4-of-8 foul shots in the first 24 minutes of play.

From 13 points down at 20-33 at the start of the second period, the Kings waged a rally and pulled even at 35-all only to fall behind by 13 again at the end of the opening half.

Romeo and Williams had had 15 and 13 points, respectively, before the break. On the other hand, only Japeth Aguilar (with 10) was the lone Ginebra player who had had a double-digit output going into the second half.

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