NorthPort stuns NLEX

MICHAEL Qualls of NorthPort prevails in his duel with NLEX’s Manny Harris.

NorthPort scored a major upset after snapping the five-game winning streak of NLEX, 102-94, to stay in the hunt for a quarterfinal seat in the 2019 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Michael Qualls led the way for Batang Pier with 36 points, 11 rebounds and five assists while Christian Standhardinger continued to provide huge game for his new team with 23 points and 19 boards.

“The players really wanted to win this game because this is a do-or-die game for us. If we lose on this one, that’s it. We’re out of the conference. We just really had a bad start. But come second and third quarter, we started to get it going for us,” NorthPort head coach Pido Jarencio said.

“Our problem now is consistency. We have to be consistent on both offense and defense. We have to work as a team offensively and defensively. We still have some adjustments that we need to work on. But somehow we’re here competing and against Ginebra I hope we can get the breaks of the game,” he added.

Sean Anthony contributed 19 points and seven rebounds for Batang Pier, who snapped their two-game losing streak and improved their standing to 4-6.

NLEX dropped to 8-2 but remained at the top of the standing as it already secured a top four finish for the twice-to-beat advantage in the next round.

Behind import Manny Harris’ 22 points, the Road Warriors took a 51-43 halftime lead and they were still holding a 70-66 advantage when Anthony anchored a 12-3 run for 78-73 lead with 3:10 left in the third period.

NLEX last threatened at 87-93 but Qualls sparked a crucial 7-0 assault to put the game awat for Batang Pier, 100-87, 1:26 remaining.

“We’re hoping that we can reach the quarterfinals. And playoffs is a different story. Of course we all know that. We have to pick up the momentum by that time,” Jarencio said.

Harris paced the Road Warriors with 34 points and eight rebounds while Kiefer Ravena and JR Quinahan contributed 16 and 10 markers, respectively.