A surprise on top

THE BALL seems too hot to handle for Bradwyn Guinto (No. 5) of Mahindra and Gab Banal of GlobalPort. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

WITH a fourth quarter output that could pass as one for a half, Mahindra last night drubbed GlobalPort and sealed its finest PBA start, which also meant a piece of the early elimination round lead in the Governors’ Cup.

The Enforcers dropped 38 points on the Batang Pier and went on to pull out a 108-98 win at Smart Araneta Coliseum, staying undefeated after two games in the season-ending conference to catch idle Meralco at the top.

Tropang TNT closed out with 11 unanswered points and completed a come-from-behind 101-98 victory over Rain or Shine in the second game.

Jason Castro, who finished with 19 points and 10 assists, hit a triple with 52.9 seconds remaining that shattered the game’s last tie at 98 and capped the Texters’ rally from 90-98 down heading into the final 6:18.

James White fired 28 points and had 20 rebounds, Aldrech Ramos finished with 16 and Asian import Mashaddy Zandi hit two treys in the fourth quarter as the Enforcers showed that their conference-opening victory over Star was no fluke.

Ramos and Zandi had two triples each while White hit 12 of his total in a highly-efficient fourth quarter by the Enforcers, whom assistant coach Chito Gavina wants to stay humble and hungry despite their early success.

“Our culture is to stay humble, hungry and be consistent with what we do,” Gavina told reporters. “I didn’t expect it (going 2-0 and tied for the lead). What I expected was for us to come into this conference prepared enough to compete.

“With tough defense and a disciplined offense, I believe we can compete with anybody.”

The loss was the second straight for the Batang Pier, who played minus superstar point guard Terrence Romeo, who is down with a stomach virus.

Mahindra scored 16 points inside the last 4:49 and peeled away from a 92-88 contest, with Zandi and Ramos draining back-to-back triples that broke the Batang Pier’s backs, 104-92, going into the final 1:25.

White, the tallest import at 6-foot-8 and the youngest at 22, is proving himself to be one of the better reinforcements in the first two weeks of the tournament.

The former Georgia Tech standout, who wasn’t selected in the last NBA Draft, also had four blocks and three steals to make up for his seven turnovers.

The scores:
First Game
MAHINDRA 108—White 28, Ramos 16, Revilla 11, Taha 10, Agovida 8, Pinto 8, Canaleta 7, Zandi 7, Guinto 5, Aguilar 2, Bagatsing 2, Ballesteros 2, Yee 2, Digregorio 0, Elorde 0, Jaime 0.
GLOBALPORT 98—Sutton 34, Pringle 19, Dehesa 13, Fortuna 9, Semerad 9, Banal 6, Isip 3, Kramer 2, Mamaril 2, Taha 1, Pascual 0.
Quarters: 20-20, 45-43, 70-69, 108-98
Second Game
TROPANG TNT 101—Castro 19, Little 18, Madanly 17, Tautuaa 14, De Ocampo 11, Seigle 9, Reyes R. 7, Carey 3, Rosales 3, Ababou 0, Fonacier 0.
RAIN OR SHINE 98—Lowhorn 20, Quinahan 16, Lee 13, Cruz 12, Almazan 11, Ahanmisi 9, Trollano 9, Belga 4, Chan 2, Norwood 2, Ponferada 0.
Quarters: 31-21, 59-56, 74-85, 101-98