A week after Meralco's shocking fall, another unbeaten titan went down at the hands of NorthPort - Magnolia Pambansang Manok.
With Jamel Artis delivering a stellar performance over a full 48-minute job, the gusty Batang Pier showed their earlier 109-98 upset of erstwhile spotless Meralco was no one-off and brought down the Hotshots as well, 103-101, Thursday night in the PBA Governors' Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
The first import to play without relief this conference, Artis turned in 42 points, firing 16 of them in the fourth-quarter to quell Magnolia's furious fightback from 19 points down and secure NorthPort's climb to 10th spot at 2-5.
Artis narrowly missed a triple-double effort as he also hauled down nine rebounds and issued eight assists against Magnolia's Mike Harris (34-12-2).
"It says a lot about our team's character," said Artis. "We work hard in practice. I believe in my teammates, they believe in me. And I know we can win games."
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Jamie Malonzo chipped in 19, helping in the closeout with four points, including a split that gave NorthPort a 102-99 breathing room with 18.4 seconds left.
Paul Lee missed a potential game-winning trey for Magnolia, which slipped to 6-1. The Hotshots were forced to share the lead with the Bolts, who beat Terrafirma in the first game, 107-95.
The Batang Pier pulled it off without young gun Robert Bolick, who's with Gilas Pilipinas in preparing for its campaign in the FIBA World Cup 2023 Asian Qualifiers over in Quezon City.
"This win is the work of the players. They did their work today, talagang puso, hard work, trabaho," said NorthPort coach Pido Jarencio.
"I challenge the players, it's your time to shine. Kalaban pa Magnolia, the top team. Make or break tayo; pag natalo, baka malabo na makapasok ng playoffs.
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"They responded. Even if wala si Robert, wala si Kevin (Ferrer), and si Arwind hindi 100 percent, lahat ng players nagpakamatay sa loob," he added.
The Batang Pier led by as many as 19 at 71-52 and even held an 84-73 margin early in the fourth.
But Harris and his pesky teammates mounted a major uprising and even wrested the lead up until 98-96 on Paul Lee's charities.
Artis, though, stepped up to the plate and knocked down six points in a 7-3 windup that sealed the deal for NorthPort. (OL)
The Scores:
NorthPort 103 - Artis 42, Malonzo 19, Santos 14, Sumang 10, Taha 9, Balanza 5, Doliguez 2, Abundo 1, Rike 1.
Magnolia 101 - Harris 34, Barroca 16, Lee 14, Dionisio 11, Jalalon 10, Sangalang 9, Corpuz 4, Ahanmisi 3, Reavis 0, Wong 0, Brill 0.
Quarterscores: np 33-21, 58-46, 77-62, 103-101
