MANILA — A monster of an import has just been unleashed. In his third game in Philippine soil, Justin Williams dished out monstrous numbers of 23 points, 23 rebounds, and a season-high eight block shots to lead the GlobalPort Batang Pier to an 89-80 drubbing of the lackluster Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings Friday in the PBA Commissioner's Cup at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum. The Batang Pier thus nailed their second win in three games while the Kings suffered their second straight defeat. The 6'9” Williams asserted his might right from the start, showing boundless energy and hustle as he totally dominated his Ginebra counterpart Herbert Hill, who is expected to play his last game Sunday. Ginebra is replacing Hill withVernon Macklin, a former NBA D-League player from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, who is set to arrive in Manila Monday night. Gary David and Sol Mercado also played huge roles in GlobalPort's victory, with David churning out 22 points and Mercado posting another double-double game of 12 points and 13 assists. Bouncing back from a bitter 88-98 overtime loss to unbeaten Barako Bull last Sunday, the Batang Pier raced to an early lead and never yielded ground to the struggling Kings. Despite his underwhelming performance, Hill still managed to lead the Kings with a team-high 22 points, 19 rebounds and two blocks. Mark Caguioa added 20 points – the only local Ginebra player to score in double digits. GlobalPort new head coach Junel Baculi said they won because they've learned their lessons well. “Lessons learned, we bounced back tonight after losing to Barako Bull last time. We didn't play smart enough in our last game,” Baculi said. “Ginebra is always tough to beat because of their never-say-die attitude. But at least, we had our version of never quitting,” he added. In the first game of the Friday double-header, Keith Benson poured 30 points, including five in the final two minutes, to help the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters ward off the hard-fighting Air 21 Express, 86-83. The Texters thus won their first game in the Commissioner's Cup after absorbing a 92-99 defeat against the Meralco Bolts last Saturday. Benson also had 18 rebounds for the Texters who had to endure a devastating 20-point fourth-quarter explosion from Air21's KG Canaleta, who finished with 23 points. Canaleta sank six of his seven three-point shots in the fourth quarter as the Express launched a furious rally from a 22-point deficit. A slam dunk by Air21 import Michael Dunigan cut the Texters' lead to just a point, 82-81. But Benson scored on a three-point play to give Talk ‘N Text a four-point lead. After Air21's Mike Cortez's layup cut the lead to two, 85-83, Jared Dillinger split his free throws, giving Air21 one last chance to level the score and send the game into overtime. But Bonbon Custodio's three-point heave missed its mark as the buzzer sounded. Air21 thus suffered its first loss after beating Ginebra last Sunday. Ranidel de Ocampo scored 19 points for Talk N Text while Dillinger added 14 markers. Dunigan finished with 19 points for the Express while Cortez added 11 points.
