JAMIE Malonzo is aware the clock is ticking away that every game for NorthPort counts in the PBA Philippine Cup.
And the loss against Converge was certainly a heartbreaker.
See Jamie Malonzo ejected after throwing ball to Justin Arana
“This one hurts us for sure,” the sophomore Fil-Am admitted on Sunday. “We’re sad we didn’t get this one.”
The Batang Pier dropped a 104-98 game against the FiberXers that certainly had a huge effect on the team’s bid for the playoffs of the season-opening meet.
It was the sixth straight loss for NorthPort for a 2-6 record and kept them out of the quarterfinal circle as Converge moved into a tie for seventh to eighth places with NLEX.
NorthPort trailed Converge by as much as 17 points but mounted a huge comeback in the second half led by Malonzo, Arwind Santos, and Kevin Ferrer.

The 6-foot-7 Malonzo had eight out of his total output of 13 during the third quarter until things made a turnaround for the former La Salle stalwart, who was tossed out midway through the period following a flagrant foul 2 infraction for throwing the ball behind Converge rookie Justin Arana.
Still, the undermanned Batang Pier – who was also without top scorer Robert Bolick due to a sprained ankle - kept stalking the FiberXers and closed within 97-94 on a Roi Sumang trey entering the final two minutes.
But fresh off the bench, RK Ilagan made damage with five straight points and made it an eight-point game with just 19 seconds left to play.
Malonzo, who added 10 rebounds, refused to talk about the F2 violation called on him, stressing, ‘I don’t want to deal with that.’
Yet, the NorthPort skid is something the Batang Pier will really have to deal with, especially with their elimination round campaign coming to a close with only three games left to play.
“Six in a row. We just got to be better,” said Malonzo. “We’re missing a lot of players. We just got to be better.”
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