By REYNALD MAGALLON
At one point in the final frame, Joshua Munzon looked to be already done for the night after getting subbed out due to a case of cramps.
He returned minutes after and ended up draining the biggest shots of the thrilling contest.
The veteran winger put on the finishing touches as NorthPort pulled off a 119-116 escape to end a five-year dry spell against Barangay Ginebra in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup at the PhilSports Arena on Wednesday, Jan. 8.
The Batang Pier rode the hot hands of their three-headed combo in Munzon, Arvin Tolentino and Kadeem Jack to build a huge lead but it was the former who made the biggest plays down the stretch to slam the door on the Kings’ comeback.
Munzon drained a booming triple with 1:10 left to keep NorthPort before he bothered Justin Brownlee and enough to force a turnover with 2.8 seconds left and preserve the victory that solidified NorthPort’s hold of the top spot.
He also had a free throw late to ice the game and finish with 27 points and six assists while Jack led the way with 32 points and 16 rebounds for the Batang Pier who snapped a 14-game losing skid against the Kings.
Tolentino also had a game for himself with 29 points built on six triples but he had to watch from the bench in the final 2:02 of the contest after picking up his sixth and final foul.
The Batang Pier led by as many as 23 points although they still found themselves on the edge of their seats late after the Kings came too close for comfort inside the final minute.
Even after the clutch Munzon trey that made it 117-109 for NorthPort, Ginebra refused to give up and went on a 5-0 spurt before Brownlee got the chance to tie the game with three free throws with 8.9 seconds left
Uncharacteristically, however, Brownlee botched the second free throw and was forced to play the fouling game which the Batang Pier made sure to take good care of.
Meanwhile, Rain or Shine opened its 2025 schedule the same way it ended last year – red-hot and dominant.
The Elasto Painters never skipped a beat and whipped the Blackwater Bossing, 122-106, to stretch their winning streak to five games.
Anton Asistio, Santi Santillan and Adrian Nocum led ROS’ signature balanced attack as save for a second quarter hiccup where they failed to reach the 20-point mark, the Elasto Painters were on point on their run-and-gun offense to frustrate Blackwater.
Import Deon Thompson still spearheaded the team in scoring with 24 points to go with 18 rebounds and seven assists, but it was the outside sniping of Asistio and Santillan that set the tone for ROS’ rout.
Asistio had three triples in the first quarter alone and eventually finished with 18 points to go with 18 rebounds while Santillan added 20 points – seven of which he fired in the opening frame.
ROS led by as many as 23, 39-16, but Blackwater came alive in the second quarter and cut the deficit down to just nine at the break, 56-47.
The Elasto Painters, however, battled fire with fire in the second half and kept the Bossing at bay behind Nocum, who exploded for 18 of his 22 points in the last two quarters.
With the win, ROS solidified its grip on the second spot of the standings with a 5-1 record while sending Blackwater reeling to its third-straight defeat for a 1-6 slate.
