NORTHPORT grabbed its second straight win, defeating hapless Converge, 111-95, on Wednesday in the 2023-24 PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Philsports Arena.
Venky Jois displayed his dominance in the paint all game and finished with 39 points, 21 rebounds, and four blocks as the Batang Pier improved their win-loss record to 4-2, following up their overtime victory over TNT last week.
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NorthPort added to the woes of Converge as it fell to 0-6 despite making a change in import by bringing in Jamil Wilson in place of Tom Vodanovich.
Ironically, the last team to start a conference with six straight defeats was NorthPort, which suffered that fate in last season’s Governors’ Cup.
“I’m just happy with my players. Ang objective namin is to outwork Converge. Good thing that as a team, we outworked them,” said NorthPort coach Bonnie Tan.
Arvin Tolentino had 18 points while Cade Flores added 13 points and 13 rebounds for NorthPort, which also got 12 points from Joshua Munzon.
But the story was Jois, who scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, most of it inside the paint. A two-hand dunk by Jois at the final 5:22 mark gave NorthPort a 99-85 lead.
Wilson had 30 points and 13 rebounds in his first game with the FiberXers, while Mike Nieto added 16 points.
The scores:
NorthPort 111 – Jois 39, Tolentino 18, Flores 13, Munzon 12, Yu 11, Calma 6, Chan 6, Paraiso 4, Amores 2, Taha 0, Salado 0, Caperal 0.
Converge 95 – Wilson 30, Nieto 16, Stockton 9, Racal 8, Ambohot 8, Arana 7, Winston 6, Balanza 5, Delos Santos 4, Santos 2, Wong 0, Maagdenberg 0, Balanza 0.
Quarters: 27-27; 58-48; 83-75; 111-95.
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