MANILA, Philippines - GlobalPort thrived in an unfamiliar situation, blasting off the starting block and maintaining physical and mental toughness throughout as the Batang Pier humbled the Alaska Milk Aces, 107-93, in their first ever PBA Final Four appearance at the MOA Arena in Pasay City last night.
Terrence Romeo sparkled with a career-high 41 points, and Stanley Pringle, Billy Mamaril and Keith Jensen provided supporting firepower as the Batang Pier surprised just about everybody in dominating the top-seeded Aces in Game One of their Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinal showdown.
Second-ranked San Miguel Beer and No. 3 Rain or Shine begin their own race-to-four-games semis face-off at 7 p.m. tonight at the same venue.
Ranged against the elims topnotchers, the Batang Pier seemed to relish being the underdogs, going on a massive attack early and hanging on to draw first blood in the series.
Romeo erupted for 22 points in the first half and added 19 in the second half as the three-year star pro served as the lead light in their coast-to-coast win where they led by as many as 18 points at one time each in the opening quarter and in the third.
Pringle, Mamaril and Jensen were of big help as the Batang Pier repelled numerous Alaska uprisings.
Romeo went 12-of-21 from the field and 11-of-12 from the stripe in surpassing his previous high of 40 points established last season.
Pringle added 14 points, six rebounds, four assists and one block, Mamaril contributed 12 markers, seven boards, four assists, three steals and one block while Jensen chipped in 12 points, including three triples.
“Alaska is the tourney’s best defensive team but tonight is our night. Our guys were very aggressive. They willed themselves to win this game,” said GlobalPort coach Pido Jarencio.
“But it’s just one game. We have to be consistent as this could be a long series. Alaska is a tough team, and they’re very familiar in this situation,” Jarencio also said.
“They beat us fair and square. We missed a ton of free throws, and thank God, we’re not in a knockout game,” said Alaska coach Alex Compton.
In their first game in 16 days, the Aces floundered with an 18-of-33 clip from the stripe.
In an amazing form, the Batang Pier outperformed on all fronts of the game on the way to a third straight win in post-elims play in this all-Filipino tourney.
By his lonesome, Romeo outscored the entire Alaska starting unit, 22-20, in a magnificent first-half performance giving the Batang Pier a 52-42 lead going into the halftime break.
Romeo sizzled with an 8-of-12 field-goal clip in the opening half, capping it with a brilliant play in the last 0.3 second where he came from outside the paint to convert on a putback a missed charity by Anthony Semerad.
Thus, the Batang Pier regained a double-digit spread at the turn after seeing an early 18-point bulge (24-6) narrow down to three, 29-32, by Alaska’s second group.
RJ Jazul, Chris Banchero, Calvin Abueva and Vic Manuel came strong off the bench to get Alaska into the fight early in the second quarter.