Romeo shrugs off poor 1st half, leads GlobalPort to 1st playoff win

Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

GlobalPort moved on to the next round of the 2016 PBA Philippine Cup playoffs, but it took a lot of Terrence Romeo in the second half to turn back Barako Bull.

Batang Pier’s spitfire guard only had five points in the first half on 2-of-12 shooting from the field as Barako Bull’s defensive game plan focused on slowing him down.

“We were surprised by their defense, we practiced it but it still different on an actual game,” Romeo said. “They had this changing defense where every time we would go on a pick and roll they would go on a zone or they would go man-to-man.”

“We were confused by their defense,” added Romeo, who scored 28 of his game-high 33 points in the last 24 minutes of GlobalPort’s 94-85 victory Friday.

Romeo, though, was too good of a player to remain quiet all game long. And his second half explosion was just what the Batang Pier needed as they went on to outscore the Energy, 53-37, in the final two quarters.

“We told each other that whatever defense they put up we should be aggressive,’” Romeo said. “We should not look at their defense and we should make ways to go around it.”