Games today
Mall of Asia Arena
4:15 p.m.- Barako Bull vs. Talk ‘N Text
7:00 p.m.- Meralco vs. Alaska
THE GLOBALPORT Batang Pier hung tough in the endgame to survive the NLEX Road Warriors, 96-90, last in the 41st PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Batang Pier flirted with disaster when they nearly lost leads of as many as 18 points.
GlobalPort erected a 75-57 advantage late in the third but NLEX gave its opponent a huge scare when it rallied within 90-92 on a three-point play by Kevin Alas with 1:12 left.
NLEX, however, blew away its chances of stealing the win when Alas fouled Billy Mamaril in a crucial play.
Mamaril sank two free throws with 53.4 seconds left before Stanley Pringle pegged the final tally with two more gift shots.
The dreaded backcourt duo of Terrence Romeo and Stanley Pringle came up big once again as they fired 29 and 27 points, respectively.
Keith Jensen added 14 markers for the Batang Pier, who nailed their second straight win to 5-3 (win-loss), good for solo fifth place.
Asi Taulava continued to defy Father Time as the 42-year-old center finished with 29 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, one block and a steal.
Taulava’s solid effort went down the drain as the Road Warriors endured their fourth loss against the same number of wins.
THE SCORES
GLOBALPORT (96)- Romeo 29, Pringle 27, Jensen 14, Mamaril 9, Kramer 7, Washington 6, Pena 2, Sumang 2, Maierhofer 0, Semerad 0, Taha 0, Yeo 0.
NLEX (90)- Taulava 29, Anthony 17, Villanueva J. 10, Alas 9, Cardona 8, Villanueva E. 8, Khobuntin 5, Enciso 2, Lanete 2, Arboleda 0, Borboran 0, Reyes 0.