MANILA, Philippines — GlobalPort pulled the rug on San Miguel Beer, 98-94, snapping the defending conference champion’s three-game win streak in the PBA’s Commissioner’s Cup hostilities Wednesday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Batang Pier’s Stanley Pringle, coming off an impressive showing in the FIBA 3x3 World Cup, made a crucial stop in the final 25 seconds of the game. His steal led to a Moala Tautuaa short stab that hiked the GlobalPort lead to 97-94.
Nico Elorde split his free throws with 9.1 ticks left, and then made a rebound to deny the Beermen a chance to make a last-ditch effort to save the game which at one point they controlled.
Import Renaldo Balkman had another monstrous outing adorned with 33 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, four steals and four blocks. But his seven turnovers cost the Beermen mutiply moments from which they could’ve subdued the Batang Pier’s rally.
“Sa wakas, nakabalik din dito,” GlobalPort coach Pido Jarencio said in jest, as only the winning coaches are interviewed inside the press room after a game during the elimination phase. “Matagal-tagal akong nawala rito.”
“Syempre credit to the players. At the same time, for Nico Elorde … Stanley (Pringle), too. Siguro naka-motivate samin ‘yung [ejection] ni Malcolm White to technical fouls. ‘Yun ‘yong nagbigay ng energy sa ibang players,” he continued.
“It’s a big win for us especially [as we go] to the playoffs,” Jarencio said. “Sa sarili ko lang, ano, di ko alam kung papaano tatalunin ang San Miguel eh. Parang apat, limang taon na ata naming ‘di natatalo ang [Beermen].”
GlobalPort last defeated San Miguel Beer in the 2016 Governors’ Cup.
Stanley Pringle had 22 points en route to a player of the game citation. His scoring was second to import Malcolm White, who finished with 25 points.
GlobalPort face Phoenix next, while the Beermen have TNT on deck.