NorthPort completes comeback vs Terrafirma for fifth win in a row

Fighting for dear life in the 2021 PBA Governors' Cup, the streaking NorthPort Batang Pier went out and took care of business on the already-eliminated Terrafirma Dyip with a 124-117 victory  on Saturday at the Araneta Coliseum.

Seasoned swingman Arwind Santos flashed vintage form anew as the 40-year-old cager hammered out 28 points, including 12 points during their third quarter surge, to go along with nine rebounds and three assists.

With the crucial win, NorthPort notched a fifth consecutive win to improve to 5-5 and stay very much in playoff contention.

Import Jamel Artis continued his stellar play with 31 markers, eight boards, and eight assists while Jamie Malonzo dropped another A-game with a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds. Robert Bolick was also instrumental after chipping in a double-double effort of 21 points and 17 assists.

The Dyip were actually able to lead by as many as 19 points, 67-48, after a huge triple from rookie Joshua Munzon with barely a minute left in the second quarter.

Then the Batang Pier came crawling back in a huge third quarter.

The wards of NorthPort head coach Pido Jarencio relied on the hot-shooting of veteran Santos, Bolick, and Artis who fueled a 23-16 run in the final stretch of third period to trim their deficit to just four, 97-93.

A buzzer-beater bucket from downtown by Artis brought NorthPort behind by a thread, 97-96, before entering the payoff period.

It became a tight game from that point on with a Malonzo dunk giving NorthPort a 100-99 cushion as they took advantage of Terrafirma's inability to close out the game despite its early huge leads.

Terrafirma, whose loss today sank them to 2-8, got a strong performance from reinforcement Antonio Hester, who posted 40 points, 18 rebounds, two steals, and an assist.

The scores:

NorthPort 124 - Artis 29, Santos 28, Bolick 21, Malonzo 21, Ferrer 11, Balanza 4, Taha 4, Doliguez 2, Rike 2.

Terrafirma 117 - Hester 40, Munzon 24, Tiongson 18, Daquioag 10, Calvo 8, Go 5, Camson 4,  Ramos 4, Pascual 2, Cahilig 2, Batiller 0.

Quarters: 35-33, 57-69, 96-97, 124-117.

—JMB, GMA News