SWEEP SURVIVOR: Defiant NorthPort hangs tough, keeps finals hopes alive

Games tomorrow:

(Smart Araneta Coliseum)

5 p.m. — TNT vs Rain or Shine

7:30 p.m. — Ginebra vs NorthPort

NorthPort refused to roll over and die — barely.

Kadeem Jack and Arvin Tolentino came up with clutch plays with under 20 seconds remaining to rescue the Batang Pier from a scary late run by Barangay Ginebra for a 108-103 win in Game 4 of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup semifinals Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

After getting blown out by an average of 20.6 points in the first three outings of the best-of-seven affair, NorthPort found a way to avoid the Kings’ broom and live to fight another day.

“The No. 1 thing that coach Bonnie (Tan) pointed out in the first three games was our energy and aggressiveness on defense,” Batang Pier assistant coach Rensy Bajar said.

“Now, we have no words to say about the effort of our players, especially in the first part of the game. They showed pressure defense from the backcourt to the frontcourt of Ginebra. They followed our game plan to the tee.”

“The most important part was how they played as a team on defense.”

Game 5 is on Friday.

Jack swished in a crucial turnaround jumper with 19.3 seconds remaining for a 106-103 separation which stopped the Batang Pier’s bleeding when their comfortable 11-point lead was trimmed down to just one after Ginebra poured a 10-0 rally.

NorthPort dodged the bullet after the Kings resident import Justin Brownlee bricked a layup and Stephen Holt missed a wide-open triple in their second serving.

Tolentino iced the victory with two charities with 8.5 ticks left.

Jack finished with a game-high 39 points on 17-of-29 shooting from the field and grabbed 15 rebounds while spiking his stats with five assists for an all-around performance for the Batang Pier, who shared the ball well with 28 dishes.

Tolentino made a positive impact and provided the spark needed by NorthPort especially in the third period.

The Best Player of the Conference frontrunner scored 14 of his 20 points in the Batang Pier’s telling third quarter explosion that allowed them to build an 11-point advantage. He added 11 assists and came a rebound shy of posting a triple-double.

“I just really had to. If not, we’re out. We as a team found a way today. It’s a great feeling to finally win,” Tolentino said of his best outing so far in the series.

“But it’s just one win because it’s a best-of-seven series. We gotta win three more and hopefully we’ll be able to sustain our great game,” he added.

“The next game up to the last we really have to just find a way to win. Three more, it may look impossible but again nothing’s impossible.”

Will Navarro added 16 points while Joshua Munzon and Paolo Taha, who gave NorthPort its first double-digit lead of the series with a trey, 63-52, in the last 9:52 of the third canto, had 11 markers.

Unlike in their first three meetings, NorthPort kept pace with Ginebra in the first half where it only trailed by three.

The Batang Pier even entered the break with a 54-50 lead after Jack connected a four-pointer at the buzzer.

Brownlee had 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists, RJ Abarrientos scored 18 while Troy Rosario had a double-double of 17 points and 13 boards for Ginebra. Holt got 15 points, Jamie Malonzo had 12 while Scottie Thompson and Japeth Aguilar chipped in 11 and 10 markers, respectively.

Meanwhile, PBA commissioner Willie Marcial clarified the issue of a “crack” regarding advertising rights between the league and long-time game venue Araneta Coliseum.

In a memo, the Big Dome under its supervising arm Uniprom Inc. reminded the PBA about its exclusive rights in all advertising spaces inside the venue including LED displays.

The scores:

NORTHPORT (108) — Jack 39, Tolentino 20, Navarro 16, Munzon 14, Taha 11, Nelle 3, Bulanadi 3, Miranda 2, Onwubere 0.

GINEBRA (103) — Brownlee 18, Abarrientos 18, Rosario 17, Holt 15, Malonzo 12, Thompson 11, J. Aguilar 10, Ahanmisi 2, Gray 0, Cu 0.

Quarters: 21-22, 54-50, 84-74, 108-103.