NorthPort Batang Pier’s Arvin Tolentino in Game 3 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals against Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings. –PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—Northport main man Arvin Tolentino is trying to be the Batang Pier’s emotional anchor in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals series against Ginebra.
Northport took yet another hit on Sunday at Araneta Coliseum iafter succumbing to a 127-100 blowout loss n Game 3 at the hands of the Gin Kings.
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LIVE: PBA semifinals Game 3 – TNT vs Rain or Shine, Ginebra vs Northport
The defeat sent the Batang Pier spiraling down a 0-3 hole, a hard place to get out from, but Tolentino is keeping the team’s mood afloat in hopes of recovering from three straight beatdowns.
“We’re just really trying to be positive,” said Tolentino with reporters after another demoralizing loss to Ginebra.
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“We actually overachieved this conference and so we’re staying really positive and sticking with each other, which is a hard thing to do right now, being down 0-3. I can’t say we’re good right now, we’re down but the team’s morale is still okay.”
No other team in the PBA has climbed up from a 0-3 series deficit except the San Miguel Beermen in the 2016 Philippine Cup Finals against the now-defunct Alaska Aces.
PBA: Ginebra with another blowout of Northport for 3-0 semis lead
Tolentino, though, has shown some huge struggles in the series. In Game 3, he finished with just 15 points; a far cry from his elimination round average of 23.0 points per game.
He scored 8 in Game 1 and 15 in Game 2.
Without much leverage, Tolentino cited that Northport still has a chance against Ginebra with the upcoming game on Wednesday hey knows the team will need to give it its all.
“We beat them in the eliminations but they really adjusted to us here in the playoffs. ’Til now we’re still looking for answers, a lot of things aren’t clicking. Good thing we have one more chance on Wednesday,” he said.
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The Batang Pier looks to avoid a sweep on Wednesday in Game 4 of the semis at the same venue.
