PBA: Arvin Tolentino drops 36 as NorthPort beats Hong Kong

NorthPort Batang Pier’s Arvin Tolentino explodes for 36 points in win over Hong Kong Eastern in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup. –PBA IMAGES

MANILA, Philippines–NorthPort slipped past Hong Kong, 120-113, in a battle of top-shelf teams in the 2024 PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Friday night.

Cornerstone Arvin Tolentino delivered 36 points and six rebounds to help will the Batang Pier to a bounce-back victory after a stinging loss to Phoenix last Tuesday and the top spot in the standings with a 6-1 win-loss mark.

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“Basically, we took advantage of a Hong Kong team just fresh off a game in Hong Kong. We outran them,” head coach Bonnie Tan said in Filipino shortly after the triumph fashioned at PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.

It’s always fun if you play visitors. There’s a certain eagerness. And that’s what happened today,” Tolentino added. “And we had an advantage as they played in the EASL the other day.”

Import Kadeem Jack paced NorthPort with 38 points and nine rebounds, while Joshua Munzon and William Navarro both added twin-digit scores for the Batang Pier.

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Chris McLaughlin had 26 points and 19 rebounds, Hayden Blankley 24 and 10, Kobey Lam and Glen Yang added at least 13 points each as the visitors dropped to 5-2 in the race.

NorthPort plays Barangay Ginebra next year, kicking off a stretch that will be littered with traditional powerhouses.

Eastern, meanwhile, figures in a rematch with San Miguel on Dec. 22, hoping to replicate the win they pulled out in their EASL clash last Wednesday.

The Scores:

NORTHPORT 120 – Jack 38, Tolentino 35, Munzon 15, Navarro 10, Yu 9, Nelle 5, Flores 4, Onwubere 4, Bulanadi 0, Miranda 0, Cuntapay 0

EASTERN 113 – McLaughlin 26, Blankley 24, Lam 18, Yang 13, Guinchard 9, Chan 7, Xu 6, Cheung 4, Leung 3, Zhu 3, Pok 0

Quarterscores: 27-32, 63-60, 90-87, 120-113.