GlobalPort import Malcolm White beats San Miguel Beer’s June Mar Fajardo to the basket during their Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup match last night at the MOA Arena. ROMAN PROSPERO GlobalPort used import Malcolm White’s fourth quarter ejection as a rallying point to upset defending champion San Miguel Beer, 98-94, and bolster its quarterfinal hopes in the 2018 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup last night at the Mall of Asia Arena.

With the Batang Pier still trailing, 80-85, in the 8:09 mark of the final canto, White was whistled for a second technical foul and was banished.

But Stanley Pringle took leadership in Batang Pier’s uprising — a 15-7 scoring spree punctuated with a perfect assist to a wide open Nico Elorde, who nailed a booming triple from the left wing for a 95-92 Globalport lead in the last 48 seconds.

Renaldo Balkman tried to push San Miguel back in the game with a pair of free throws in the last 37 seconds, 94-95, but an Alex Cabagnot turnover in the next possession was costly for the Beermen.

It resulted in an easy transition basket by Mo Tautuaa for the marginal 97-94 gap.

San Miguel had another chance to send the game to overtime but a passing error by Arwind Santos to Balkman destroyed their chances.

Elorde put the game away with split charities for the final count.

Globalport ended its two-game slide to improve at 4-4 for a solo fifth place spot entering the last three games of the mid-season conference elimination campaign.

San Miguel saw its three-game winning streak end as it dropped to a 3-4 slate.

“Motivation sa amin yung pagkawala ni Malcolm White. Positive talaga for the team na nawala import tapos nagbigay energy sa mga ibang players,” said Globalport head coach Pido Jarencio

“Di ko alam paano namin natalo ang San Miguel. But this is a big win for us kasi pag natalo kami, bababa kami. At least we have a big chance to be in the final eight entering our crucial games,” he added.

Fresh off a 3×3 World Cup stint, Pringle shrugged off fatigue with a near triple-double of 22 points, six rebounds and eight assists on top of three steals and a block.

White had a team-high 25 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks for Globalport while Elorde had eight points and eight rebounds.

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