B Pier blast Bolts; Kings rip Beermen
Jonathan Grey and Kelly Nabong dished out inspired performances against their former team, leading GlobalPort to a surprise lopsided 107-88 victory over Governors Cup runner-up Meralco in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.
Grey matched a careerbest 24 points while Nabong came through with personal season highs of 17 points and 17 rebounds in statement games powering the Batang Pier to joint fourth place with the TNT KaTropa Texters, the Phoenix Fuel Masters and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters at 3-3.
With severe beating from two former players and GlobalPort’s lead men Stanley Pringle and Sean Anthony, the Bolts reeled to a fourth loss against two wins.
“I think our defense worked well in the second and third quarters. Fourth quarter, bigayan na ‘yon (Then we both went through the motion in the fourth quarter),” said GlobalPort coach Pido Jarencio of their superb job in the middle quarters sending the Bolts to their worst defeat in the season thus far.
“Our first group delivered and so did our second group that’s why the lead grew so big,” Jarencio added.
Grey and Nabong anchored the second group, expanding GlobalPort’s spread to 20 points, 36-16, early in the second quarter. The two former Bolts were also on the floor as the Batang Pier led by as many as 29, 94-65, in the fourth quarter.
Nabong stood out with his overpowering performance at the paint, going 6-of-11 from the field and grabbing 16 defensive rebounds.
“He’s matured after the Meralco incident. I told him ‘past is past. Look at the future,’” added Jarencio of Nabong, sacked by the Bolts after the Fil-Am player threw tantrum in Game One of their semifinal showdown with Star (now Magnolia) in the recent Governors Cup.
Barangay Ginebra made an amazing fightback from an early 16-point deficit and beat San Miguel Beer, 100-96, in a wild, wooly finish to improve to 3-3 later in the night.
“It was tough. Who would have thought we could come back and win the game after losing our last three games. We had guys who stepped up tonight,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.