WILLIAM Navarro scored a new career-high 31 points and the presence of "resident import" Venky Jois seems to have injected added fire to NorthPort, resulting in a 112-93 wire-to-wire win over Terrafirma Friday in the PBA Governors Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Getting the additional playing time he wanted, Navarro scattered 24 of his points in the second half in fueling the Batang Pier to as much as a 106-79 lead and well on their way to their first win in Group A following a 95-101 loss to TNT last Tuesday.
"I'm just confident, like, I know my shots are gonna go in. It's not surprising for me," said Navarro, who scored only six points in 20 minutes during the TNT game but got five more minutes this time and promptly shot 13-of-20 from the field, including 3-of-5 from 3s.
"Obviously, when I play more - obviously coach gave me the opportunity - I'm gonna deliver. I just need to be on the court more," added Navarro.
Also grabbing his share of the limelight was Jois, who finally cleared up the paperwork that prevented him from suiting up against TNT.
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The Australian, who first saw action for NorthPort in last season's Commissioner's Cup, tallied 16 points, while shooting 8-of-12 from the field, collared 15 rebounds and issued six assists.
"Venky is our resident import. So in terms of familiarity nandoon na siya. Hindi lang siya umabot ng first game," was how Batang Pier coach Bonnie Tan the decision to have Jois replace Taylor Johns, notwithstanding the latter's 36 points, 16 rebounds and nine dimes versus TNT.
"Johns played well, pero talaga lang may commitment na kami kay Venky so talagang nagkaroon na ng understanding na he'll be back," added Tan.
It was Terrafirma's second blowout loss following a 95-107 drubbing from Converge last Wednesday.
Stanley Pringle had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Antonio Hester had his own double-double of 13 and 10, but the Dyip again got left behind for good as early as the third period.
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Juami Tiongson and Kevin Ferrer each notched 13 points, but Christian Standhardinger again failed to play according to expectations with only eight points on 4-of-12 shooting on top of seven rebounds.
Aside from failing to contain NorthPort's more fluid attack, the fight seemed to have been taken out of Terrafirma for good when Fran Yu boomed in a buzzer-beating heave from the backcourt that gave the Batang Pier an 85-70 lead going to the final period.(NC)
The Scores:
NORTHPORT 112 - Navarro 31, Jois 16, Munzon 14, Tolentino 10, Amores 8, Jalalon 8, Yu 7, Nelle 6, Tratter 5, Cuntapay 3, Bulanadi 2, Flores 2, Taha 0.
TERRAFIRMA 93 - Tiongson 19, Pringle 17, Hester 13, Ferrer 13, Standhardinger 10, Carino 9, Cahilig 5, Hernandez 5, Ramos 2, Olivario 0.
QUARTERS: 30-20, 51-43, 85-70, 112-93
