ANTIPOLO CITY. — NorthPort wingman Joshua Munzon boomed in a clutch left corner three-pointer that gave his team a five-point lead with 1:28 to go on a cold and rainy Sunday night.
As if his offense was not enough, Munzon forced TNT playmaker Rey Nambatac to a turnover two plays later.
With Munzon nearly doing it all, the Batang Pier claimed the scalp of the Tropang Giga, carving out a 100-95 decision for their fourth straight win and keeping the solo lead in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Ynares Center here.
Munzon’s big triple pegged the final count before NorthPort’s vaunted defense held off TNT’s last-ditch effort to avert the meltdown.
Batang Pier assistant coach Rensy Bajar deflected the triumph, a fitting follow-up to a 107-103 decision over the Magnolia Hotshots Wednesday last week, to the team’s collective effort on defense.
“Our defense won us this game because we all know TNT has a lot of threats, especially offensively. Luckily, we stopped their import, RHJ (Rondae Hollis Jefferson) in the second half,” Bajar, who spoke in lieu of coach Bonnie Tan, said. “Ang plus factor din for us in this game was the defense of Will Navarro, Joshua Munzon, and even Sidney Onwubere nag-step up sa defensive schemes namin in the second half.
“We give credit to the players because they played hard, especially in the second half,” he added.
Import Kadeem Jack uncorked a game-high 27 points, to go with 11 rebounds for NorthPort while Munzon backed him up with 20 markers, three boards, two assists, and four steals.
Arvin Tolentino and Navarro also had 17 and 12 points, respectively as the Batang Pier remained unscathed with a 4-0 mark in the mid-season tilt.
The Tropang Giga absorbed their second loss in a row, counting an 84-105 shellacking at the hands of foreign guest team Eastern last Friday.
TNT raced to a 52-45 lead at the half that it padded to 56-45 on a Nambatac layup at the 11:06 mark of the third quarter.
But NorthPort whittled the deficit behind the likes of Jack, Tolentino, Evan Nelle, and Fran Yu to 72-73 going into the final canto.
Hollis-Jefferson’s two free throws gave the Tropang Giga their last taste of the driver’s seat 94-93 with 2:51 remaining.
Calvin Oftana paced TNT with 20 points, nine caroms, and four dimes while Hollis Jefferson added 19 markers, 14 rebounds, and seven feeds.
Roger Pogoy, Glenn Khobuntin, and Henry Galinato Jr. also got 17, 14, and 10, respectively, for TNT which played without big man JP Erram due to a one-game suspension after he committed a flagrant foul penalty one the last time out.
