ALL’S well that ends well.
Just weeks after a heated exchange with GlobalPort Batang Pier head coach Franz Pumaren star point guard Stanley Pringle led his team to a 102-90 victory over Kia Picanto in the 2017 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup Sunday night at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Pringle orchestrated his team’s attack while import Murphy Holloway did a little of everything else to tow the Batang Pier to victory. Holloway finished with 29 points, 18 boards, three assists, and three blocks. He then put an exclamation point with a rim-rattling dunk to punctuate the Batang Pier win.
Kia cut the GlobalPort lead to six points inside the last minute but couldn’t execute at crunch time to suffer their seventh consecutive loss.
“The three-week layoff was hard. We were sluggish in a way that we were rushing things. And it’s so hard playing Kia. The way they’re playing is stress-free,” said GlobalPort head coach Franz Pumaren.
With the victory Globalport (2 wins, 2 losses) climbed into a tie at seventh place with the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (2-2).
Leading the standings are the unbeaten Star Hotshots (3-0). Trailing them are the Meralco Bolts (5-1), Barangay Ginebra San Miguel (3-1), the NLEX Road Warriors (5-2), the San Miguel Beermen (2-1) and the TNT KaTropa (2-1).
The other teams include the Blackwater Elite (2-3), the Phoenix Petroleum Fuelmasters (2-4), the Alaska Aces (0-4) and Kia (0-7).
The Batang Pier thus climbed out of the bottom half of the standings.
But the Picanto, who have yet to show a win in seven outings, are in danger of being the first team to be eliminated in the season-ending conference.
New Batang Pier forward Mac Baracael had an auspicious debut in a GlobalPort uniform following the three-team trade among the Batang Pier, Phoenix and NLEX which saw Cyrus Baguio going to NLEX and Dylan Ababou going to Phoenix.
Baracael chipped in 13 points and could give the Batang Pier the needed help going into the homestretch of the elimination round. Additionally the Batang Pier will also see the return of national team player Terrence Romeo.
The scores:
GLOBALPORT 102 – Holloway 29, Pringle 21, Baracael 13, Cortez 10, Anthony 8, Pennisi 6, Arana 6, Guinto 5, Hubalde 4, Celiz 0, Grey 0, Forrester 0.
KIA 90 – Cummings 37, Celda 15, Elorde 9, Camson 9, Paniamogan 6, Revilla 6, Salva 4, Caperal 2, Jaime 2, Corpuz 0, Ballesteros 0, Khobuntin 0, Yee 0, Deutchman 0.
Quarter scores: 28-21, 49-48, 74-69, 102-90.