Already minus Christian Standhardinger then with import Ryan Richards sidelined by an injury, Terrafirma fell prey to NorthPort which roared to a 2-0 start in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Saturday at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo City.
The Batang Pier pounded and pummeled the all-Filipino Dyip, pulling off an easy 113-101 victory for a share of early league leadership with the Hong Kong Eastern squad.
Kareem Jack proved unstoppable against the overmatched Terrafirma frontcourt and Arvin Tolentino had his own big game with triple-double numbers as the Batang Pier scored a follow-up to their 114-87 conquest of the NLEX Road Warriors on Thursday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium (NAS).
Richards started the game, registered just one second and was then taken out. And no way would the Batang Pier would let a golden opportunity to slip away.
Jack delivered 32 points and 15 rebounds in 35 minutes of action while Tolentino logged in 21 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists, leading NorthPort past the Terrafirma side that went down to a second straight defeat.
On opening day, Dyip suffered a 116-87 blowout loss at the hands of the Converge FiberXers in their first game after the departure on trade by Juami Tiongson and Andreas Cahilig.
Vic Manuel, trade acquisition by Terrafirma with Terrence Romeo in exchange for Tiongson and Cahilig, made his initial outing with the Dyip and led the team with 23 points plus five rebounds, two assists, and one steal against two turnover.
Mark Nonoy also went to work with 21 points highlighted by four-of-six three-pointers as Stanley Pringle contributed 15, Kevin Ferrer 14, Mark Louie Sangalang 12, and Aldrech Ramos 10.
But they had no answer to Jack and Tolentino backed up by Fran Yu, Joshua Munzon, and William Navarro with 13, 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Terrafima trimmed the gap to 12 in the end but it was not the true reflection of NorthPort’s domination of its hapless importless rival.
Coach Bonnie Tan and his troops went 2-0 ahead of their game against the Magnolia Hotshots Wednesday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Terrafirma, meanwhile, will be up next against NLEX a day earlier also at the NAS inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila. (PBA)
The scores
NORTHPORT (113): Jack 32, Tolentino 21, Yu 13, Munzon 12, Navarro 10, Nelle 9, Bulanadi 5, Onwubere 5, Taha 4, Flores 2, Tratter 0, Cuntapay 0.
TERRAFIRMA (101): Manuel 23, Nonoy 21, Pringle 15, Ferrer 14, Sangalang 12, Ramos 10, Melecio 3, Catapusan 3, Hernandez 0, Olivario 0, Richards 0, Zaldivar 0, Paraiso 0.
QUARTERSCORES: 32-24, 56-40, 85-69, 113-101