Tolentino torches Eastern as NorthPort regains solo lead

MANILA, Philippines – Arvin Tolentino and NorthPort returned to their winning ways and grabbed solo lead in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup after a 120-113 win over Hong Kong Eastern at the PhilSports Arena on Friday, December 20.

Arvin Tolentino proved to be a model of efficiency, dropping 35 points on a 10-of-16 clip to go with 6 rebounds and 3 assists and recorded no turnovers in over 41 minutes as the Batang Pier hiked their record to 6-1.

Aside from bouncing back from their first loss of the conference at the hands of erstwhile winless Phoenix three days prior, Tolentino rode on the motivation of defending their home turf against the foreign squad.

“It’s always fun when you’re up against a visiting team. You always want to win. And that’s what happened today,” said Tolentino. “I’m happy that I played well today.”

Tolentino took turns with import Kadeem Jack as they guided NorthPort closer to a playoff berth by scoring 10 points each in the fourth quarter.

Jack finished with team highs of 38 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks, scattering 8 points inside the final three minutes to help the Batang Pier keep Eastern at bay.

Continuing his steady play, Joshua Munzon also delivered with 15 points, 3 assists, and 2 steals, while William Navarro put up 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists off the bench.

Fran Yu chipped in 9 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 steals as NorthPort ended the year on a high note.

Import Chris McLaughlin tallied 26 points, 19 rebounds, and 5 assists for Eastern, which saw a three-game winning streak snapped — a possible effect of fatigue from playing a second game in three days in different countries.

Eastern hosted San Miguel in Hong Kong on Wednesday, December 18, in the East Asia Super League, hacking out a 71-62 win.

Hayden Blankley also saw his 24-point, 10-rebound, 4-assist, 2-block outing go down the drain as Eastern fell to second with a 5-2 card.

The Scores

NorthPort 120 – Jack 38, Tolentino 35, Munzon 15, Navarro 10, Yu 9, Nelle 5, Flores 4, Onwubere 4, Bulanadi 0, Miranda 0, Cuntapay 0.

Eastern 113 – McLaughlin 26, Blankley 24, Lam 18, Yang 13, Guinchard 9, Chan 7, Xu 6, Cheung 4, Leung 3, Zhu 3, Pok 0

Quarters: 27-32, 63-60, 90-87, 120-113.

– Rappler.com