FACING a must-win situation, GlobalPort rose to the occasion in the payoff quarter and took care of business, annihilating Kia, 108-91, to boost its chances for a berth in the quarterfinals in the 2018 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum yesterday.
Sean Anthony and Kelly Nabong both had monster games for the Batang Pier as they scored a game-high of 21 points each with the former grabbing eight rebounds and the latter hauling 13 boards.
Equally as impressive was Stanley Pringle, who filled out the stat sheet with 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists for more help.
GlobalPort improved to 5-5 to tie Barangay Ginebra for sixth and seventh places in the standings. More importantly, the Batang Pier improved their hopes of ending up in the Top 8.
To clinch a berth in the quarters, what the Batang Pier need now is to win their last assignment against Phoenix on March 2.
The Batang Pier unleashed an avalanche in the second period to dictate the direction of the game.
GlobalPort emphatically uncorked a 12-0 blast midway the second period to suddenly turn a 32-all deadlock into a 44-32 spread after Nico Elorde’s jumper with 3:15 left before halftime.
At the turn, the lead stood at 11, 51-40, for the Batang Pier.
However, Kia did not make it easy for GlobalPort at all in the second half as it showed some life late in the game, even threatening to steal the game away.
The Picanto had a huge run to start the fourth, dropping an 18-6 run to start the period and turn an 11-point deficit into a slim 85-84 edge briefly with under eight minutes left.
Still, that proved to be short-lived as GlobalPort got its second wind and responded with a decisive 14-2 counter surge to restore command and take a 98-87 cushion with 3:56 remaining after Julian Sargent’s basket.
Two minutes later, Sargant once again struck and connected with a triple to close the deal and put GlobalPort ahead for good, 103-88, with only 1:41 remaining.
The eliminated Picanto fell further down to 1-9 with only a game left in its conference.
Reden Celda led Kia with a team-high 20 points.
The Scores
GLOBALPORT 108—Anthony 21, Nabong 21, Pringle 15, Sargent 12, Teng 7, Grey 6, Flores 6, Gabayni 6, Guinto 6, Juico 4, Elorde 2, Araña 2, Taha 0.
KIA 91—Celda 20, Gabriel 17, McCarthy 14, Camson 12, Jamon 9, Corpuz 5, Tubid 5, Sara 4, Cabrera 3, Yee 2, Lastimosa 0, Galanza 0, Khobuntin 0, Ababou 0.
Quarterscores: 23-26, 51-40, 78-67, 108-91.