SEAN Anthony sparked GlobalPort's fiery start that sent the Batang Pier well on their way to a cruising 101-76 win over Blackwater Friday, their second straight in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome.
On a day when league-leading scorer Stanley Pringle was relatively quiet, Anthony set the tone with 21 of his 22 points in the first half anchored on a near-impeccable three-point shooting binge that seemed to rub off on his teammates.
As a result, GlobalPort emerged with a fitting follow up to its 78-70 win over Rain or Shine last week and now has an even 2-2 record and a share of fourth-running spot.
That's a situation more to the liking of coach Pido Jarencio while his Batang Pier await the return of Terrence Romeo from a knee injury that has kept the multiple scoring champion on the sidelines since the last Governors Cup.
The wire-to-wire win was largely brought about by GlobalPort keeping its foot on the pedal for majority of the contest against a team playing its third game in eight days
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"Actually, simple lang instructions sa team. Nag-back-to-back-to-back iyan kaya mapapagod din sila," related Jarencio. "Kaya from the start, talagang takbuhan ng takbuhan."
The final statistics back Jarencio up as GlobalPort wound up with a 23-5 advantage in fastbreak points and was also plus-16 in points in the paint, plus-nine in second chance points and converted Blackwater's 24 turnovers into 27 points.
"Team concept talaga, extra passes, effort nandoon lahat kaya total team effort," said Jarencio.
Mac Belo's 17 points and Mike Digregorio's 15 led Blackwater, which sorely missed the services of Allein Maliksi, who went on a pre-scheduled visit to his relatives in the US.
JP Erram and Raymar Jose struggled mightily from the field and were limited to just eight points apiece.
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In contrast, Pringle still wound up with 17 points and 11 rebounds with Kelly Nabong adding 16 and seven.
Undeniably, it was Anthony who showed the way as he scattered 21 points, anchored on 6-for-7 three-point shooting, in the first two quarters.
Pringle and Nabong added a triple each and even Yousif Taha boomed in one as GlobalPort missed only five of its 16 three-point attempts that enabled it to outscore Blackwater, 33-14, in the second period and erect as much as a 61-35 lead and a 61-37 spread at the half.
"Everybody contributed, especially Sean at the start, kaya medyo nag-breakaway kami," said Jarencio.
With Blackwater unable to muster any surge going, GlobalPort even stretched its lead to 85-54, early in the fourth period. (NC)
