Batang Pier clamp down on Bolts, notch 3rd straight win

MANILA, Philippines -- The pesky NorthPort Batang Pier staged a defensive masterclass and grinded their way to their third straight win at the expense of the Meralco Bolts, 90-85, in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday.

It was a grit-and-grind game that saw NorthPort steal the ball 18 times, forcing the Bolts to commit 25 turnovers.

With Meralco trailing by four, 64-68, at the end of the third quarter, the Batang Pier showcased their defensive grit and took a nine-point lead, 78-69, with a jumper by Cade Flores.

Back-to-back shots by Cliff Hodge and Allein Maliksi cut the lead to five, 73-78, but Arvin Tolentino hit a pair of freebies to regain an 80-73 lead.

NorthPort maintained the seven-point lead with great defensive stops until about a minute to go, 88-81, after Fran Yu made a couple of freebies.

Meralco though went down swinging.

After a layup by Aaron Black and missed chances by NorthPort to go for the dagger, Chris Newsome also converted a layup plus the foul with eight seconds remaining to cut the lead to a single possession, 88-85.

Newsome missed the free throw, and Zavier Lucero hauled in a big rebound and eventually found Flores for the dagger, 90-85.

JM Calma and Arvin Tolentino led the way for the Batang Pier, finishing with 16 points each.

Paul Zamar added 14 points off the bench, while Flores had 13 points, six rebounds and six steals.

Black spearheaded the Bolts with 18 points, with Newsome adding 15.

Maliksi had his worst game of the conference so far, scoring just four points on 2-of-10 shooting after finishing in double digits the past three contests.

With the win, the Batang Pier rose to 3-1, their first such start since the 2019 Commissioner's Cup.

Meralco dropped to 1-3.