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| League-leading scorer Terrence Romeo then took matters in his hands in the fourth to lift his squad to its fourth win of the conference, finishing with 27 points, 12 of which came in the final quarter. Dennis Jerome Acosta/Dugout Philippines |
PASAY—Just over a week after a forgettable fourth quarter meltdown
against Phoenix, Globalport regained its form to get back into their winning
ways, holding off Meralco, 97-89, as the PBA Philippine Cup resumes on Friday at
the Mall of Asia Arena and start the year on a high note.
Their previous loss serving as gut-punching lesson, the
Batang Pier warded off yet another collapse in the second half, stepping on the
gas pedal in the payoff period to walk away with the win and buck a three-game
slide.
They led by as much as 16 midway the first half, 40-24, before
seeing it trimmed by Meralco’s Jonathan Grey and Ed Daquioag to just one at the
end of the third, 72-71.
League-leading scorer Terrence Romeo then took matters in
his hands in the fourth to lift his squad to its fourth win of the conference.
He finished with 27 points, 12 of which came in the final quarter.
KG Canaleta added 13, while Billy Mamaril and Mike Cortez
both had 12.
Despite five guys breaking into double-digit scoring, the
Bolts struggled to break out of slump, the loss putting them at a dangerous
spot at the team standings with a 2-5 record.
Reynel Hugnatan caught fire early but was rather silenced
down the stretch. He paced the Bolts with 23 markers along with five boards.
The scores:
GLOBALPORT 97 - Romeo 27, Canaleta 13, Mamaril 12, Cortez 12, Quinahan 11, Pringle 9, Aban 9, Maierhofer 2, Paredes 2 , Banal 0 , Urbiztondo 0, Pessumal 0
MERALCO 89 - Hugnatan 23, Grey 18, Newsome 16, Hodge 12, Daquioag 12, Buenafe 3, Faundo 2, Caram 2, Amer 1, Uyloan 0, Nabong 0, Ferriols 0
Quarterscores: 26-19, 51-41, 72-71, 97-89
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