PBA: Venky Jois wears mismatched shoes in 4th, leads NorthPort win

NorthPort import Venky Jois.–PBA IMAGES

MANILA, Philippines–Import Venky Jois put up another performance despite wearing a different pair of shoes in the fourth quarter to lead NorthPort over hapless Converge, 111-95, Wednesday in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

Jois finished with 39 points, 21 rebounds, six assists and four blocks as the Batang Pier improved to 4-2 with their second straight win despite replacing his broken left shoe with another one while deciding to keep the other pair.

The Australian import came into the game wearing a pair of Nike LeBron NXXT Faze Clan, before changing his left one with a Nike Ja 1 Hunger colorway.

NorthPort also got another all-around game from rookie Cade Flores with 13 points and 13 rebounds off the bench.

Arvin Tolentino was the Batang Pier’s top local scorer, quietly putting up 18 points to seal a second straight triumph to begin a stretch of three games in five days.

NorthPort takes on San Miguel Beer on Friday and Meralco on Sunday, all at the same venue.

Converge remained as the only team without a victory this conference, dropping to 0-6 despite the debut of new import Jamil Wilson.

Wilson had 30 points and 13 rebounds for the FiberXers after replacing Tom Vodanovich.

Mike Nieto added 16 points for struggling Converge, which has lost 10 straight games dating back to last season’s Governors’ Cup.

The scores:

NORTHPORT 111—Jois 39, Tolentino 18, Flores 13, Munzon 12, Yu 8, Calma 6, Chan 6, Paraiso 4, Amores 2, Taha 0, Salado 0, Caperal 0.

CONVERGE 95—Wilson 30, Nieto 16, Stockton 9, Ambohot 8, Racal 8, Arana 7, Winston 6, Balanza 5, Delos Santos 4, Santos 2, Wong 0, Maagdenberg 0, Melecio 0.

Quarters: 27-27, 58-48, 83-75, 111-95.