Navarro drops career-high 31 points as Batang Pier flatten Dyip

MANILA, Philippines -- William Navarro unleashed a career-high 31 points to lead the NorthPort Batang Pier past the Terrafirma Dyip, 112-93, in wire-to-wire fashion in the PBA Governors' Cup Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Navarro exploded for his personal record scoring on an efficient 13-of-20 clip. He also recorded five rebounds, two assists and two steals off the bench.

Terrafirma trailed by as much as 16 points, 22-38, in the first half.

The Dyip, though, were able to cut the lead to just seven, 70-77, late in the third quarter after four free throws by Juami Tiongson.

NorthPort then sizzled and unleashed a 21-3 run that extended to the fourth quarter to take a 98-73 lead with 8:30 remaining.

In that stretch, Navarro scored 15 points.

A Tiongson triple halted the blitz, 76-98, but NorthPort was able to answer any attempt of the Dyip to come back.

“Our players played well. Kahit yung second group namin, we challenged our second group namin to deliver also, to be consistent, headed by Will Navarro,” NorthPort head coach Bonnie Tan said.

“Nakita namin na if we follow our game plan, we can pull through this game,” he added.

Venky Jois produced 16 points, 15 rebounds and six assists in his return game in the PBA. He recently replaced Taylor Jones in an early import swap.

Joshua Munzon added 14 points for NorthPort.

Juami Tiongson led Terrafirma with 19 points and five assists, but had seven turnovers.

With the win, the Batang Pier are now holding a 1-1 win-loss record.

Terrafirma dropped to 0-2.