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Anthony Semerad played the game of his life and GlobalPort slipped by Meralco, 126-123, in double overtime in the 2016 PBA Governors’ Cup Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena.
The forward out of San Beda buried the go-ahead three from the right corner off a pass from Stanley Pringle with 14.9 seconds left as the Batang Pier notched their first victory after opening the conference at 0-4.
“It was a broken play. We told the guys na ready lang sila and told Stanley to do his thing. Nalibre naman si Anthony sa last shot and malaking puntos yun,” said GlobalPort coach Johnedel Cardel, who also got his first win as head coach after replacing Pido Jarencio in the offseason.
Semerad registered a career-high 24 points on a 6-of-8 shooting from beyond-the-arc.
Meralco still had a chance to force a third overtime, but Jonathan Uyloan misfired on a potential game-tying triple as time ran out.
“After the last conference, a lot of adjustments ang ginawa namin. We had a new system and ngayon lang nagwork. Sana magtuloy-tuloy na,” said Cardel.
Mike Glover paced GlobalPort with 26 points, 16 rebounds and five assists, while Terrence Romeo added 24 points, three rebounds and seven assists. Pringle finished with 15 points, six rebounds and eight assists.
The Batang Pier also survived the 55-point, 14-rebound, and six-assist outing of Meralco’s super import Allen Durham and dealt the Bolts an even 3-3 slate.
GlobalPort seemed poised to cruise to a victory after holding a 55-41 lead early in the third.
It even held a six-point edge, 100-94 in the final 20.1 seconds thanks to a nifty play from Pringle, but Cliff Hodge responded with a clutch trey followed by a huge steal and three-point play from Durham to knot the score at 100 with 6.9 ticks left.
Pringle tried to win the game, but Hodge was there to block the shot as the game went into first overtime.
The game went into second OT after Meralco’s Chris Newsome hit a 15-foot jumper to tie the score anew at 114 with 8.9 seconds left and Pringle’s reverse layup going in-and-out.
Bryan Faundo chimed in 12 markers for Meralco, while Newsome had 10 points, six boards, and eight assists in the loss.
The scores:
GLOBALPORT 126 – Glover 26, Romeo 24, Semerad 24, Pringle 15, Yeo 11, Washington 8, Dehesa 8, Kramer 6, Taha 4, Mamaril 0.
MERALCO 123 – Durham 55, Faundo 12, Newsome 10, Hodge 9, Caram 8, Uyloan 6, Buenafe 6, Hugnatan 6, Dillinger 4, Nabong 4, Alapag 3, Amer 0, Bono 0.
Quarters: 21-24, 52-41, 82-71, 100-100, 114-114, 126-123.