NorthPort outlasts Meralco, nails 3rd straight win

MANILA, Philippines: NorthPort chalked up its third straight win after outlasting Meralco, 90-85 in a strong defensive effort in their Season 48 PBA Philippine Cup match on Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum.

Young big man JM Calma fired 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Arvin Tolentino also scored 16, while hauling down six boards and six assists for NorthPort, which moved to share of third place with idle NLEX at 3-1.

Veteran guard Paul Zamar scattered 14, while rookie Cade Flores chipped in 13, six rebounds and a season-high six steals.

«During viewing after our first two games, we just identified our weaknesses and strengths. But then, players made sacrifices because they played outside their playing positions, which worked for us,» NorthPort coach Bonnie Tan after the game.

The Batang Pier pulled a conference-best 18 steals, yielding a massive 31-12 advantage in turnover points.

The Batang Pier led by 12 points in the first half, but the Bolts cut the deficit and eventually, closed in at 85-88, with 8.2 seconds left.

Chris Newsome's missed three-pointer though led to a defensive rebound by rookie Zavier Lucero, which led to an easy Flores breakaway layup to seal final score.

Aaron Black scored 18 points while Newsome added 15 to lead Meralco, which dropped to a 1-2 record.

Veteran wingman Allein Maliksi was held down to just four points.