PBA: NorthPort delays Ginebra’s celebration

NorthPort Batang Pier’s Kadeem Jack in Game 4 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals against Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings. –PBA IMAGES

NorthPort prevented Barangay Ginebra from completing a four-game sweep of their PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinal series with a tight victory on Wednesday that had the Batang Pier entertaining thoughts of completing a comeback of epic proportions.

“It seems impossible,” Arvin Tolentino said in Filipino, referring to overhauling a 3-0 deficit after the Batang Pier’s ego-boosting 108-103 win at Smart Araneta Coliseum where they finally showed why they were the best team of the eliminations after playing otherwise in the previous three games.

“But nothing is really impossible.”

The brooms were placed back on the shelf as NorthPort put a dent in Ginebra’s hold on the best-of-seven affair, as the Batang Pier forced a Game 5 Friday at the same venue where the odds are still stacked against the Batang Pier.

But what NorthPort is hoping for is that the result can serve as a confidence-builder and create something that few sports teams in the world, including the 2015-2016 Philippine Cup champion San Miguel Beer, have managed to pull off.

Back to BPC form

“It’s like being underwater and having trouble breathing,” added Tolentino. “But all of a sudden, you manage to find a way to get your head up. This win got our confidence, our belief back, so [we got to get] three more [wins].”

Tolentino once again displayed the form that made him the front-runner for the Best Player of the Conference award, posting 20 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists after struggling in the three losses that saw the Gin Kings win by an average margin of 20.7 points.

With Tolentino, Joshua Munzon and William Navarro playing well, and veteran guard Paolo Taha taking advantage of the starting lineup nod, import Kadeem Jack was able to get plenty of support.

Jack played with intensity and showed less interest in finishing his splendid campaign early as he came up with 39 points, 15 rebounds and five assists that kept Ginebra at bay.

A team effort in the stretch stymied Ginebra’s last-ditch attempt at turning the game around.

“We were playing with our backs against the wall and playing with a lot of pride,” said Jack.

Ginebra trailed by 11 in the fourth, but almost got to foil NorthPort’s bid to stay alive when it pulled within one on a Stephen Holt three, 104-103, time down to 36 seconds.

But Jack scored a crucial basket before Holt missed a game-tying three, setting up Tolentino’s pair of clinching free throws for NorthPort.