By REYNALD MAGALLON
Arvin Tolentino flirted with a triple-double as NorthPort opened its PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup campaign in style with a 97-75 domination of the Terrafirma at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium onSaturday, April 12.
With questions lingering about their ability to sustain the gains from their semifinals run from last conference, the Batang Pier had a quick display of power in their debut with Tolentino leading the balanced attack that handed the Dyip their second straight defeat.
Tolentino actually came two rebounds shy of a triple-double after firing 19 points, dishing out 12 assists on top of his eight boards.
NorthPort, which went off to a good start but had an even better finish when it pulled away in the final frame, had four players scoring in double figures and three other chipping it at least six points.
William Navarro finished with a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds while Joshua Munzon had 15. Allyn Bulanadi and Sidney Onwubere, who was thrusted to a bigger role in the import-less conference, both had 10 apiece.
Damie Cuntapay added eight while NorthPort’s backcourt rotation of Evan Nelle and Fran Yu had six each.
Meanwhile, NLEX rode the hot hands of Xyrus Torres to give Rain or Shine a rude welcome, 109-95, and barge into the win column of the all-Filipino conference.
Looking for a breakthrough after dropping their first game, the Road Warriors found an added scoring punch from Torres, who had a near-perfect game to upstage an Elasto Painters team that was brimming with confidence after a semis run last conference.
Torres just couldn’t miss as he erupted for 28 points on a scintillating 5-of-6 clip from three-point territory and an impeccable 6-of-6 shooting from the shaded lane – none bigger than the jumper and a floater he buried with less than three minutes left to douse an impending uprising from the Elasto Painters.
His hot-shooting also eased the load on NLEX star Robert Bolick who finished with 23 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds that easily overshadowed his six turnovers.
Anthony Semerad joined Torres in the three-point party after burying four triples to finish with 18 while Javee Mocon contributed a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.
