MANILA – Joshua Munzon stepped up anew in the endgame. NorthPort Batang Pier pulled off a 108-101 victory over Converge FiberXers in the 2024-25 PBA Commissioner’s Cup last night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.
With the score tied at 97-all after a three-pointer by FiberXers’ Alec Stockton, Munzon converted back-to-back outside conversion to give the Batang Pier a 103-97 advantage with over two minutes left.
The FiberXers cut the deficit to 99-103 on two free throws by Jordan Heading, but the Batang Pier responded with a three-pointer from Kadeem Jack and two free throws from Arvin Tolentino to seal the win.
Munzon finished the game with a season-high of 30 points to go with three assists, and three steals as the Batang Pier remained on top in the standings with a 5-0 win-loss slate.
Jack led the way for the Batang Pier with a double-double of 32 points and 15 rebounds, Tolentino tallied 21 points and 13 rebounds, while Evan Nelle chipped in 13 points, including two four-point shots.
Heading finished with a career-high of 30 points, Stockton added 16 markers, Cheikh Diallo and Justin Arana had 15 and 13, respectively, while Justine Baltazar debuted with five points, four rebounds, three assists, and a steal as Converge dropped to 3-2.
Meanwhile, Stephen Holt waxed hot in the third quarter as Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings scored a 109-100 victory over NLEX Road Warriors on Wednesday evening.
The former PBA top-overall pick finished with 26 points, with 20 coming in the third quarter, to go with two rebounds and two assists as the Gin Kings opened the conference on a winning note.
Justin Brownlee added a double-double of 24 points and 12 rebounds, Japeth Aguilar and Maverick Ahanmisi contributed 15 and 13 points, respectively, while Jeth Troy Rosario made his Gin Kings debut with nine points, seven rebounds, and three assists.
“We had a good shooting night and that makes up for a lot of our execution mistakes,” said Gin Kings head coach Tim Cone after the game. “Stephen shot the ball well, Mav shot the ball well, and that took a lot of pressure out of us.”/PN
BOX SCORE:
NORTHPORT 108 – Jack 32, Munzon 30, Tolentino 21, Nelle 13, Yu 6, Navarro 4, Onwubere 2, Flores 0, Tratter 0, Bulanadi 0, Cuntapay 0, Miranda 0.
CONVERGE 101– Heading 30, Stockton 16, Winston 15, Diallo 13, Arana 8, Racal 7, Baltazar 5, Santos 4, Andrade 3, Delos Santos 0, Nieto 0, Javillonar 0, Caralipio 0.
Quarterscores: 24-33, 54-57, 75-76, 108-101.
