PBA: Batang Pier hold on to spoil Fuel Masters’ debut

NorthPort Batang Pier’s Arvin Tolentino in the PBA Philippine Cup. –PBA IMAGES

NorthPort coach Bonnie Tan hardly looked victorious on Friday night, despite steering his Batang Pier to a 124-120 victory over Phoenix in the PBA Philippine Cup.

It wasn’t too hard to understand why, as the Batang Pier gave up a 14-point cushion and nearly faltered late at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“We have all sorts of advantages going into this game. We already played two games, Phoenix (hasn’t played a) single one,” he told the Inquirer just before heading back to the team’s locker room.

READ: PBA: Northport relishes ‘luxury’ of having well-balanced crew

“We’re just glad that the likes of Zavier Lucero stepped up off the bench,” he went on.

NorthPort came out the gates hard, but its intensity faded as the quarters went by.

Tan said last week that his charges are developing a defensive identity, but the Batang Pier hardly looked the part against the Fuel Masters.

READ: PBA: Arvin Tolentino thriving as NorthPort ‘leader’

If not for the rookie out of the University of the Philippines and a collection of scoring weapons, Tan would’ve been scratching his head for worse reasons.

Cade Flores, another freshman, was big yet again for NorthPort, scoring a season-best 21 points that went with 12 rebounds. Lucero was just as key, chipping in 18. Joshua Munzon and veteran marksman Jeff Chan added 17 each and three more players finished with twin-digit contributions.

Jason Perkins had 28 points for Phoenix, a squad eager to prove that its semifinal appearance in the last Commissioner’s Cup wasn’t a fluke, only for the Batang Pier to doom the Fuel Masters to a sour debut.

SCHEDULE: 2024 PBA Philippine Cup

Tyler Tio finished with 19 points before hurting his ankle and would’ve been key when the Fuel Masters tied the contest at 113-all with a little over three minutes remaining.

“We have a luxury in this team,” said Tan, whose side hiked its record to 2-1. “The pressure is really on us to utilize [the players], especially the new ones we have.”

NorthPort will have a chance to do just that this Sunday when it tries to annex a third straight victory against 1-2 Meralco.

Phoenix’s hunt for a first win in the conference, meanwhile, runs into crowd darling Barangay Ginebra in the nightcap of the same day.