“I begged the players to play defense, hang on and make the game close because I thought we can pull off an upset,” said GlobalPort coach Junel Baculi.
Gary David scored 28 points while new acquisitions Sol Mercado and Japeth Aguilar added 17 and 16, respectively, for GlobalPort, which bucked the disqualification of reinforcement Justin Williams with 8:18 left in the third quarter.
Williams still finished with an impressive line of 18 points, 15 rebounds, and three blocked shots before he was called for a flagrant foul penalty two after elbowing June Mar Fajardo, leading to an automatic ejection.
Mercado’s free throws with less than three minutes left gave GlobalPort the lead for good. GlobalPort was still up, 93-92, when Arwind Santos’ long-range attempt failed to hit the mark, forcing Petron to foul Aguilar with 1.8 seconds left.
Aguilar split his free throws, giving Petron one last crack. But Ronald Tubid was unable to get off his final shot, preserving the GlobalPort victory.
Aguilar added nine rebounds and three blocks while Mercado had 11 assists for the Batang Pier, which tied its win total from the Philippine Cup with the victory.
The scores:
GLOBALPORT 94 – David 28, Williams 18, Mercado 17, Aguilar 16, Yee 8, Salvador 3, Nabong 2, Miller 2, Deutchman 0, Lingganay 0, Juntilla 0, Aljamal 0, Adducul 0.
PETRON 92 – Balkman 23, Santos 15, Tubid 12, Cabagnot 11, Lanete 9, Washington 7, Miranda 6, Fajardo 5, Yeo 2, Pena 2, Lutz 0.
Quarters: 19-16, 39-45, 64-69, 94-92
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