ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider NorthPort staves off Magnolia, books first semis in five years

NorthPort staves off Magnolia, books first semis in five years

Published Feb 6, 2025 12:14 pm

At A Glance

  • NorthPort rode the waves of a huge third quarter surge and held on with its defense in the waning minutes to take down Magnolia, 113-110, and reach the semifinals for the first time in five years in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner's Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Thursday, Feb. 6.

NorthPort rode the waves of a huge third quarter surge and held on with its defense in the waning minutes to take down Magnolia, 113-110, and reach the semifinals for the first time in five years in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Thursday, Feb. 6.

PBA Images15 (44).jpg

Armed with a twice-to-beat advantage, the Batang Pier were all business right from the get-go and survived several scares from the Hotshots, with Kadeem Jack posting a double-double effort of 30 points and 10 rebounds to go with five steals and three blocks and Arvin Tolentino adding 25 to help NorthPort return to the semis – its first since 2019 when the team was still bannered by Christian Standhardinger and import Michael Qualls.

The Batang Pier also got plenty of help from the bench – something that the NorthPort coaches repeatedly preached about heading into the playoffs.

“Going to the playoffs Arvin, Josh (Munzon) and Kadeem pinaghahanadaan na yan, kaya we need everybody to be involved,” said NorthPort deputy Renzy Bajar.

Will Navarro led the Batang Pier bench mob, chipping in 15 points and seven rebounds while Evan Nelle and Allyn Bulanadi had 12 apiece and Cade Flores added 10 points and nine rebounds.

NorthPort actually had to shake off some rust in the first half when Magnolia easily took control with a 61-47 lead at the break.

The Batang Pier, however, regained consciousness and unloaded a back-breaking 19-1 run to open the third before eventually erecting a 14-point advantage, 101-87, in the fourth quarter.

Surviving consecutive do-or-die games, Magnolia refused to go into the night silently, climbing back within one, 106-107, behind the hot shooting of Paul Lee.

Timely hits from Tolentino, Jack and free throws from Fran Yu and Allyn Bulanadi on top of their tough defense in the final possessions saved the day for NorthPort.

Mark Barroca led Magnolia with 26 points and 10 assists while Ricard Ratliffe and Paul Lee added 22 apiece – all of which went for naught as Magnolia fell short in the quarters anew.

ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.