Anthony, NorthPort backed into a corner: ‘We can’t afford to lose one game’

NorthPort’s run in the PBA Governors’ Cup hasn’t been a great success, but with the team’s back against the wall the players have no choice but to fight back.

That happened on Friday when the Batang Pier held off Meralco, 99-94, at Mall of Asia Arena for their first taste of consecutive wins.

“Our backs were against the wall, we can’t afford to lose one game so it was one game at a time and play our hearts out,” said forward Sean Anthony who led NorthPort’s offense with 26 points on 8-of-14 shooting.

NorthPort’s win, however, didn’t come without a few scares near the end.

After building a 10-point lead, 84-74, midway through the fourth, the Batang Pier had to deal with a late Meralco rally with the Bolts going on a 14-6 run to cut the margin to just two, 90-88, with 2:05 left.

Moala Tautuaa gave the Batang Pier a small buffer, 92-88, with a couple of free throws before Stanley Pringle knocked down a big three-pointer with 52.3 seconds left for the 95-88 lead.

Although Mike Tolomia got to answer back with a three of his own a few seconds later, Anthony was quick to respond with his own triple for NorthPort’s 98-91 lead with 24 seconds remaining.

“Luckily we were able to close it out in the fourth quarter,” said Anthony. “Meralco brought it back, it was a huge scare, we were lucky to pull it out with a win.”