THREE wins in a row for Northport Batang Pier.

The Batang Pier recorded their third straight win after defeating Meralco Bolts, 90-85 in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Arvin Tolentino and JM Calma provided the 1-2 punch for the Batang Pier of coach Bonnie Tan.

Tolentino finished with 16 points, six rebounds and five assists while Calma added a conference-high with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting and eight rebounds in 28 minutes of action for the Batang Pier, who followed up their 124-120 victory against Phoenix Super LPG last Friday and 124-112 victory over Phoenix Super LPG last March 3.

Paul Zamar contributed 14 points and rookie Cade Flores, who had 21 points and 12 rebounds against the Fuel Masters, chipped in 13 points, six rebounds and season-high six steals.

The win for Northport equals the franchise-best ever 3-1 start in the Philippine Cup.

“In-stress ko lang sa team, composure lang sa endgame,” said NorthPort coach Bonnie Tan whose team enjoyed a whopping 31-12 advantage in turnover points.

“During viewing after our first two games talagang we identified our weaknesses and strengths. ‘Yung mga sacrifices ng mga players na naglalaro sa positions na hindi nila dapat laruin, iyon ang nag-wo-work sa amin,”added Tan.

“Playing against Meralco we know they’re coming back from a double-digit deficit. We made sure we get a good start in the second half and composure sa endgame ma-deliver natin.”

Aaron Black and Chris Newsome topscored for Meralco with 18 and 15 points, respectively

Raymond Almazan had 12 points and six rebounds for coach Luigi Trillo-mentored Bolts, who dropped to 1-3 win-loss.

The scores:

Northport (90) – Calma 16, Tolentino 16, Zamar 14, Flores 13, Adamos 7, Chan 7, Lucero 7, Munzon 6, Yu 4, Paraiso 0, Bulanadi 0, Rosales 0
Meralco (85) – Black 18, Newsome 15, Almazan 12, Quinto 8, Rios 6, Mendoza 6, Jose 6, Banchero 5, Maliksi 4, Torres 3, Hodge 2, Caram 0.
Quarterscores: 19-15, 43-43, 68-64, 90-85.