NorthPort sails to 4th straight win

MANILA, Philippines —   Red-hot NorthPort didn’t miss a beat, coming out of a long break with a coast-to-coast romp over Talk ‘N Text, 112-96, to stay within the leaders’ pack in the PBA Philippine Cup yesterday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

Rust was nowhere to be found in and out of the Batang Pier’s ship, sailing to a 32-18 start and never looking behind for their fourth straight win.

NorthPort bowed in the opener against NLEX but strung three wins in a row before the PBA’s long pause due to the All-Star Weekend in Bacolod and in observance of the Holy Week that sidelined the team for almost a month.

Arvin Tolentino captained the Batang Pier’s barrage, pouring 22 of his 29 points in the first half alone where they left the Tropang Giga off the dust with a massive 61-34 gap.

TNT never came close from there on as NorthPort climbed to 4-1 for a tie with NLEX at second place.

JM Calma, who had an All-Star blast by becoming the new Obstacle Course Challenge king, collared 22 points and 13 rebounds while Joshua Munzon added 14 points.

Rookie Cade Flores and Allyn Bulanadi chipped in nine and seven, respectively, while Zav Lucero and Will Navarro produced six points in the scattered attack of NorthPort’s youth brigade.

“Ang concern namin during the three-week break is ‘yung ginagawa namin sa first four games ay parang na-break. Coming from that, lahat ng players excited to contribute sa team. Na-translate naman namin,” said coach Bonnie Tan.

“We’re a young team. Maraming mga bata sa team na talagang hungry and trying to prove something sa liga. ‘Yun ang malaking contributions kung bakit kami nagco-compete as a team and individuals also,” added Tolentino on the squad made up of a bevy of rookies, sophomores and junior cagers.

That youth firepower was evident right from the get-go, regardless of a long lull since playing last March 10 in a 90-85 win over Meralco, as the Batang Pier ran away early in a 12-4 start.