NorthPort forward Arvin Tolentino.–PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines–NorthPort came out of the gates hard on Sunday night and hung on until the final horn to crush severely undermanned Terrafirma, 133-107, in the PBA Governors’ Cup.
The Batang Pier drew a triple-double of 23 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists from cornerstone Arvin Tolentino and 26 points and 15 rebounds from import Venky Jois to get out of a two-game slump and improve to 3-3 in Group A play.
NorthPort raced to a 21-6 lead in the opening period at Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Malate, Manila, and never looked back.
READ: PBA: Paul Lee helps Magnolia shake off NorthPort
The Dyip leaned on Christian Standhardinger’s 22 points and Ahamad Hanapi’s 20, and Louie Sangalang’s 14, but without cornerstone Juami Tiongson and promising sophomore big man Kemark Cariño, the Johnedel Cardel-mentored squad hardly stood a chance, thus absorbing a sixth straight loss to remain winless in the tournament.
Tiongson and Cariño sat out the game due to varying injuries.
Also making things even more worrying for Terrafirma was Standhardinger’s premature exit with a little over two minutes left in the contest. The two-time Best Player of the Conference, who has long been playing through knee issues, was clutching his left leg as he left the playing court.
NorthPort hopes to get a winning streak going when it tackles Converge, a team they beat in the first round, in a contest set this Wednesday, Sept. 11.
Terrafirma, on the other hand, will try to scale a mountain in trying to end its slide against Magnolia this coming Thursday.