WILLIAM Navarro spearheaded NorthPort's breakaway against Converge on the way to a 112-97 win on Sunday that snapped the FiberXers’ seven-game winning streak in the PBA Season 47 Commissioner’s Cup.
The rookie fell just an assist short of a triple double as his 29 points, 17 rebounds, and nine assists all set new career highs on a night when NorthPort put away its sixth win in 11 outings to stay in fifth in the leaderboard.
Converge fell to 8-3 after a game where import Quincy Miller did not see action for still undisclosed reasons.
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NorthPort coach Pido Jarencio admitted the absence of Miller had a major effect on their opponent.
“We were expecting na full force sila pero eventually, ‘yung import nila, ewan ko kung ano naging problema, naging favorable for us dahil naging mas madali. Hindi naman madali pero kaya lang, ang mindset kasi namin, with or without import, ready kami,” said Jarencio.
Robert Bolick also had a huge outing marked by 26 points and 10 assists for the Batang Pier, while Prince Ibeh added 19 points, 15 rebounds, and eight blocks.
But it was Navarro who made the biggest impact in the third, scoring 16 points to lead the NorthPort pullaway. The Batang Pier entered the fourth quarter already with an 88-73 advantage.
Aljun Melecio had 20 points and eight assists, while Jeron Teng added 14 points for Converge but its winning streak that spanned since last month came to an end.
Converge dropped to third place, but could be in danger of missing out on one of the two twice-to-beat incentives in the quarterfinals with the defeat.
The scores:
NorthPort 112 – Navarro 29, Bolick 26, Ibeh 19, Tolentino 15, Sumang 9, Balanza 7, Ferrer 4, Ayaay 2, Chan 1, Calma 0, Caperal 0.
Converge 97 – Melecio 20, Teng 14, Ilagan 11, Ahanmisi 11, Tratter 9, Stockton 8, Arana 8, Browne 6, Racal 6, DiGregorio 2, Bulanadi 2, Ambohot 0.
Quarters: 28-16; 52-49; 88-73; 112-97.