By REYNALD MAGALLON
NorthPort rode the waves of a huge third quarter surge and held on with its defense in the waning minutes to take down Magnolia, 113-110, and reach the semifinals for the first time in five years in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Thursday, Feb. 6.
Armed with a twice-to-beat advantage, the Batang Pier were all business right from the get-go and survived several scares from the Hotshots, with Kadeem Jack posting a double-double effort of 30 points and 10 rebounds to go with five steals and three blocks and Arvin Tolentino adding 25 to help NorthPort return to the semis – its first since 2019 when the team was still bannered by Christian Standhardinger and import Michael Qualls.
The Batang Pier also got plenty of help from the bench – something that the NorthPort coaches repeatedly preached about heading into the playoffs.
“Going to the playoffs Arvin, Josh (Munzon) and Kadeem pinaghahanadaan na yan, kaya we need everybody to be involved,” said NorthPort deputy Renzy Bajar.
Will Navarro led the Batang Pier bench mob, chipping in 15 points and seven rebounds while Evan Nelle and Allyn Bulanadi had 12 apiece and Cade Flores added 10 points and nine rebounds.
Meanwhile, a vintage Jayson Castro kept TNT afloat before the rest of the team pick up the slack for the deciding run in the fourth to send Eastern packing with a 109-93 victory and also advance to the semifinals.
Limited to just three points in the first two quarters, Castro took over and dropped 13 in the third quarter to help the Tropang Giga keep in step with Eastern before guys like Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Rey Nambatac and Calvin Oftana delivered the killing blows.
Castro’s vintage showing also helped preserve another all-around effort from Hollis-Jefferson, finishing with 31 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Nambatac fired 11 of his 18 points in the final frame when TNT created the separation while JP Erram, who also had nine during the same stretch, added 15 points and seven rebounds.
Eastern actually took the driver seat from TNT in the third when it had a 57-51 lead. Although seemingly in control, Eastern didn’t really have a run to create a much bigger separation, largely due Castro whose timely hits allowed his team to keep in step.
And then the floodgates opened for the Tropang Giga in the fourth same way as Eastern had gone cold with its offense particularly during a stretch where the guest team had to play without import Cameron Clark.
