MANILA — Despite playing with flu, Terrence Romeo still found ways to score and lead the GlobalPort Batang Pier to a 105-91 victory in overtime over the tough Barako Bull Energy on Sunday night in the PBA Philippine Cup. Romeo sat out the first quarter but still finished with a team-high 21 points, eight of them in the overtime period when he led the Batang Pier on a 20-4 run to finish off the Energy. It was the second straight win for GlobalPort after an opening game loss against the defending champions San Miguel Beermen. Barako Bull absorbed its second loss in three games. The Batang Pier could have won in regulation but Barako Bull star and Gilas member JC Intal buried a buzzer-beating turnaround jumper to send the game into an extra period. It was all GlobalPort in ovetime as the Barako Bull failed to duplicate their rousing come-from-behind 82-79 win over Barangay Ginebra last week. Stanley Pringle also played solidly for Barako Bull finishing with 19 points, a career-high 17 rebounds, six assists, and two steals in 43 minutes of action. Intal and Willy Wilson led Barako Bull with 17 points apiece while Jervy Cruz and Chico Lanete added 13 markers apiece in a losing effort for the Energy. Star 97, NLEX 95 The Star Hotshots edged the NLEX Road Warriors, 97-95, in a nail-biting game that was not decided until the final second. With 56 seconds left, the Hotshots took a 96-92 lead courtesy of an Ian Sangalang layup off a feed by Marc Pingris. NLEX star Sean Anthony then hit three straight free throws to cut Star's lead to 96-95 with 11 ticks left. The Road Warriors sent James Yap to the charity stripe to stop the clock. They were rewarded when Yap uncharacteristically missed both free throws. But instead of calling for a timeout to map their final play, the Road Warriors elected to play on, resulting in a turnover, with a second left. The Road Warriors then sent Star's Justin Melton to the free throw line, splitting his charities. After a timeout, with one second left, Jonas Villanueva fired a desperation shot that fell short, allowing the Hotshots to nail their second win in four games. The Road Warriors suffered their first defeat after back-to-back wins. PJ Simon led Star with 21 points. Barangay Ginebra 93, Alaska 92 The Barangay Ginebra Kings survived a ferocious Alaska Aces comeback in the endgame to win by the slimmest of margin, 93-92, Saturday night in the second PBA Philippine Cup overseas game at the Al Wasl Sports Club in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It was Ginebra's first victory after two straight defeats, allowing the Kings to climb up from the bottom of the heap. Alaska suffered its first loss in four games to fall from the top to third place in the standings. The Kings led by 19 points at halftime, 56-37, but once again cooled down in the second half to allow the Aces to come back in a game reminiscent of their 82-79 meltdown against the Barako Bull Energy in their last game, where they led by as many as 21 points. However, this time Greg Slaughter would not allow another dominating performance to go down the drain as he personally took charge, swishing in Ginebra's last six points on free throws, with the last one turning out to be the game-winning shot. Slaughter finished with yet another monstrous numbers of 27 points and 19 rebounds. The seven-foot Ginebra center was nearly flawless from the charity stripe, converting 15 of his 17 free throws. Japeth Aguilar also posted huge numbers for Ginebra with a double-double of 23 points and 12 boards. LA Tenorio and Mark Caguioa added 14 and 11 points, respectively. Games Wednesday: Meralco Bolts vs. Talk N Text Tropang Texters and Blackwater Elite vs. San Miguel Beermen.
