Monster Warner carry Batang Pier to 2nd straight win

MANILA, Philippines -- Calvin Warner, an import playing bigger than his size, dominated the boards for a franchise-best and league-season-high 30 rebounds and the Globalport backcourt provided the scoring sock as they demolished the Blackwater Elite, 101-78, to stay among the frontrunners in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Sunday night.

Though at least five inches shorter than Blackwater import Marcus Douthit, the 6-foot-5 Warner more than held his own, collecting 23 defensive caroms and seven from the offensive board in a dominant rebounding that helped a lot as the Batang Pier notched their first back-to-back wins and finally went above the .500 mark with a 4-3 win-loss record.

The whole Globalport team also snared down a franchise-record and league-season-high 74 rebounds as against Blackwater’s 45 as the Batang Pier pulled off another emphatic victory following a 99-81 rout of the Barako Bull Energy Wednesday.

“I’m thankful to the guys, they’re responding to my challenge,” said Globalport coach Eric Gonzales.

“The challenge is that we don’t settle for just doing okay and we don’t take Blackwater lightly,” Gonzales pointed out. “We have to keep going hard, be efficient, and we should have no dead time.”

The Batang Pier did just that as they dealt the Elite another severe beating, following an 87-72 demolition job in their Philippine Cup elims matchup.

Terrence Romeo topscored with 25 points with Warner, Ronjay Buenafe and Stanley Pringle adding 42 points together as they handed the Elite a fifth loss against a lone win in the mid-season tourney.

The Batang Pier showed a good form as they geared up for a tough assignment in Talk n Text on Sunday.

“I’ve been studying Talk n Text from their last game. But whether it’s Blackwater or Talk n Text, I’ve been telling the guys we have to check ourselves,” said Gonzales.

Against the Elite, the Batang Pier were in complete focus, winning each quarter as they scored their most lopsided win in the tourney.

They went 35-of-83 from the field and 25-of-35 from the stripe in breaching the 100-point mark for the first time in the conference.

“We’re actually still studying the right balance of a running game and in setting up a halfcourt game with Warner strictly a post player,” said Gonzales.