Jois powers Batang Pier over Dyip

MANILA, Philippines — The shortest import in the Commissioner’s Cup at under 6-foot-5 and mostly unheralded among the crop, Jois turned in a monster debut of 43 points to power in-transition NorthPort past Terrafirma, 108-103, last night.

Jois, the last among the reinforcements to sign in, banged in seven in the fourth quarter to give the Batang Pier a 104-101 cushion and completed his stellar bow with 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals.

“He’s our main guy,” said NorthPort coach Bonnie Tan of Jois.

“It’s his first time to play in Asia as an import and first as a lone import because in Europe, they play with multiple imports. So I challenged him to perform well and give us this first win.”

Challenge accepted.

With Jois as anchor, the Batang Pier clawed back from a 10-point deficit in the third period and eventually outsteadied the erratic Dyip in the windup.

Jois’ output was the most score for a debuting reinforcement since Terrafirma’s Jordan Williams sizzled with 46 in last season’s Governors’ Cup.

“I’ve had a couple of 38-point games (before) so it’s actually nice to collect 43 in a professional game,” said the Aussie, who converted 19 of his 27 attempts in nearly 43 minutes of action.

“But that (career high score) really doesn’t mean anything, what’s important was the win. There’s so much pressure in the first game as there’s only 11 games in a season. So I’m not thinking about the 43 but about getting a huge win to start us off right through,” he added.

NorthPort locals Arvin Tolentino (16), Joshua Munzon (11) and Paul Zamar (10) provided offensive support for the team now playing without top scorer Robert Bolick.  Rookies Fran Yu, Brent Paraiso and Cade Flores helped man the fort in the endgame.

Juami Tiongson showed the way with 21 for Terrafirma, which lost its opening assignment for the seventh straight conference. Belgian import Thomas Hugo de Thaey shot 20 before fouling out.

Highly-touted Dyip freshman Stephen Holt scored 11 to go with six rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Later, Phoenix clawed back from 16 down to steal a 113-101 win over fading NLEX.