Enforcers score breakthru win B Pier trip Painters, share lead

Game today (Lucena City)

5 p.m. – TNT vs Star

Games tomorrow (Philsports Arena)

3 p.m. – Barako Bull vs Meralco

5:15 p.m. – San Miguel vs Ginebra

MANILA, Philippines – The explosive triumvirate of Stanley Pringle, Terrence Romeo and Keith Jensen combined for 73 big points, including the game-winning drive by Pringle, as Globalport nipped Rain or Shine, 113-111, to forge a four-way logjam in the lead  in the Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup at the Philsports Arena in Pasig last night.

Pringle top scored with 27 points capped by an incredible drive through a phalanx of ROS defense that shattered the 111-all count with 14 seconds to go.

The Elasto Painters had a chance to send the game into overtime but Jeff Chan misfired a fade-away shot at the buzzer, allowing Globalport to catch up with Rain or Shine, San Miguel Beer and Alaska Milk at 3-1.

The Batang Pier, with tremendous boost from their explosive backcourt, have won their last three games after dropping their season debut against the Beermen.

“The desire to win is there. Everybody contributed except that Stanley was really exceptional,” said Globalport coach Pido Jarencio, who also lauded Romeo for finishing strong despite sustaining a cut on the left eyebrow on a wayward elbow by Raymond Almazan early in the fourth.

In the first game, Mahindra fed on the trauma of  bitter defeats to elite teams Talk n Text and Alaska Milk in its last two games to gain some confidence it used to nail its first win.

KG Canaleta and Aldrech Ramos, trade acquisitions from NLEX in the offseason, showed up their former teammates and helped the Enforcers score their first win since narrowly missing the playoffs in the last Governors Cup.

With an earlier win over NLEX in the previous conference, Mahindra squared up at 2-2 their head-to-head matches with the fellow two-year-old PBA franchise.

More importantly, the Enforcers arrested their skid in the all-Filipino tourney, following in the footsteps of the Blackwater Elite in snapping a 13-game losing skein in the Philippine Cup. Mahindra nailed its first win in four starts in the season.

Meanwhile, TNT and Star both gun for a third win as they slug it out in a marquee matchup in a Petron Blaze PBA on Tour stop in Lucena at 5 p.m. today.

 “We played with a sense of urgency,” said Mahindra coach Chito Victolero whose troops fought hard every inch of the way to deal NLEX a second straight loss following two consecutive victories.

“Before the game, I told the players that we played three tough teams – Rain or Shine, TNT and Alaska – and we made a good showing in each game, just missing the breaks at the finish. I said there’s no reason to get frustrated,” said Victolero. “The boys did work hard in practice and exerted an effort to finally get a win.”

Victolero noted the good showing of Canaleta and Ramos against their former team.

Canaleta, Ramos and Kyle Pascual all scored 14 points while LA Revilla came up with 13 points. and seven assists as the Enforcers dominated the Road Warriors despite 31 points from Asi Taulava and a near triple-double job from Sean Anthony.

The Enforcers clamped down on the rest of the NLEX team, leading by as many as 21 at 98-77 before virtually going through the motion in the last two minutes of the contest.

The Mahindra bench clobbered their NLEX counterparts, 45-27.

In the halftime huddle, Taulava reminded his teammates that he couldn’t do the job by his lonesome.

Still, the ageless warrior hardly got help from his teammates except from Anthony who produced 19 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists in 36 minutes of action.

Taulava went 11-of-15 from the field and 9-of-13 from the stripe for his biggest output in a game in the last eight seasons.

However, the Enforcers easily offset Taulava’s and Anthony’s numbers with an improved performance after their close losses to the Texters and the Aces.

Mahindra pulled away for good, 77-60, as Paolo Hubalde closed the third period with a trey then Revilla opened the final canto with his own triple.

NOTES: There’s no slowing down ageless wonder Asi Taulava who delivered a personal eight-year best of 31 or since piling up 33 in the 2007-08 campaign. He narrowly missed a fourth straight double-double game with nine rebounds.

The scores:

First Game

MAHINDRA 103 – Canaleta 14, Pascual 14, Ramos 14, Revilla 13, Yee 11, Hubalde 9, Guinto 8, Pinto 7, Bagatsing 5, Alvarez 4, Dehesa 2, Webb 2, Jaime 0.

NLEX 93 – Taulava 31, Anthony 19, Enciso 9, Arboleda 8, Villanueva J. 8, Borboran 5, Cardona 4, Alas 3, Camson 2, Reyes 2, Apinan 1, Villanueva E. 1, Khobuntin 0, Lanete 0.

Quarterscores: 26-16, 51-43, 74-60, 103-93