NorthPort averts sweep, noses out Ginebra in Game 4

MANILA, Philippines — NorthPort avoided a sweep at the hands of Barangay Ginebra after hammering out a hard-earned 108-103 win in Game 4 of their PBA Season 49 Commissioner's Cup semifinals series on Wednesday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

Import Kadeem Jack provided the game-long brilliance after finishing with a game-high 39 points, on top of 15 rebounds for NorthPort, which lost by an average of 21 points to Ginebra in the first three games of the series.

Jack's turnaround jump shot with the 19.3 seconds to go gave the Batang Pier the needed 106-103, while Ginebra guard Stephen Holt missed a three-point attempt on the other end.

The Gin Kings were forced to foul in the ensuing play, sending Batang Pier top gun Arvin Tolentino to the foul line, who delivered both charities en route to sealing his team's first win in the series.

Tolentino churned out 20 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists in a near triple-double effort for his best performance in the series.

William Navarro also had a big scoring night, finishing with 16 points, highlighted by four triples, while Joshua Munzo and Paolo Taha each added 14 and 11, respectively.

NorthPort shot 11 triples, and equalled Ginebra assists total with 28 in the Batang Pier's win-or-go home Game 4.

Justin Brownlee and RJ Abarrientos each scored 18 for Ginebra, while Troy Rosario added 17 and 13 boards.