Globalport upsets San Miguel for 2nd straight win
Globalport landed a big fish in San Miguel Beer after an initial win from a double-overtime duel with Meralco as the Batang Pier moved up to the Top Eight at the midpoint of their elimination-round stint in the PBA Governors Cup.
Before a good Friday crowd at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo, the Batang Pier started strong and fended off repeated fightbacks by the Beermen, pulling off a 98-92 win to tie the Phoenix Fuel Masters at eighth at 2-4.
“It was really a big, big fish,” said Globalport coach Johnedel Cardel in their upset of the Beermen.
“After our win the last time, we saw in the eyes of our players talagang gigil na gigil silang manalo. And they do rewarded us with this win,” Cardel also said.
The Batang Pier jumped the gun on the Beermen, opening a 20-point spread in the second period and just refusing to lose as they made it two in a row after an alarming 0-4 start in the season-ending tourney.
Stanley Pringle top scored with 25 points, Mike Glover came through with 15 markers and the same number of rebounds while Terrence Romeo contributed 18 markers, seven assists, three steals and three rebounds as Globalport dealt SMB a second loss against four wins.
The Beermen now share second place with the Mahindra Enforcers and the Barangay Ginebra Kings, two full games behind the TNT KaTropa Texters at 6-0.
Romeo scored on a hook over Ronald Tubid and AZ Reid then knocked in two charities in the last 28 seconds to personally bail the Batang Pier out of trouble.
Pringle and Glover played tough all throughout as the Batang Pier negated Reid’s 41 points and 15 rebounds and June Mar Fajardo’s 21 markers and 14 boards.
Obviously due to disappointment, Reid didn’t mind coach Leo Austria in their last timeout.
It was really a disappointing loss for the Beermen who gallantly fought back from an early 20-point deficit only to stagger at the finish.
Reid outscored the entire Globalport team, 21-18, in the second quarter as the Beermen charged from 20 points down to trail by just two, 39-41, at the half.
SMB actually knotted the count at 39-all as Alex Cabagnot drained two free throws on an infraction by Glover then grabbed a loose ball that he turned into a drive-in basket.
The Batang Pier got off to a swashbuckling start, taking the opening quarter at 23-8 then led by as many as 20 at 28-8.
The Beermen, on the other hand, threw bricks early on, making only three of 20 field-goal tries. Reid was 0-of-5 while Cabagnot was 0-of-4.
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