MANILA: Terrence Romeo scored way, way less on a night that GlobalPort was a far, far better team.

Leading Barangay Ginebra for most of Sunday night, the Batang Pier found themselves in trouble in the waning minutes and still turned to Romeo for the game-turning triple that made an 89-85 victory in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup possible at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

Romeo got a lot of support as the Batang Pier led by as large as 15 in the third period before being dragged into a close endgame by the Gin Kings.

He finished with 21 points that he capped with a triple off LA Tenorio’s pressing defense with 55.5 seconds left that gave the Batang Pier an 87-85 lead before watching the Gin Kings bungle a couple of chances to at least forge a tie.

GlobalPort’s form was a great improvement compared to an ugly loss to Mahindra last Wednesday as import Brian Williams helped out a lot with 19 points, 17 rebounds, five assists and a lot of muscle that kept Greg Slaughter from dominating.

“The team just bounced back, they really wanted to win this one because they know that losing two straight games could tell on (our playoff aspirations) in the long run,” GlobalPort coach Pido Jarencio told reporters.

“I appreciate the way we played defense tonight,” he said, admitting to being piqued somewhat when, during a stretch in the Mahindra game last Wednesday, something that said “no defense” on their part was shown on the coliseum’s big screen.

“I issued that as a challenge to them, and the players responded.”

Stanley Pringle had 14 points, capped by the insurance free throws off a Sol Mercado foul with two seconds remaining for the final count.

Ginebra, after that Romeo triple, threw away two chances to at least force a tie, with Tenorio bungling a chance at redemption when he launched a wide-open triple try from left corner short, leading to those Pringle free throws.

The win not only gave GlobalPort a 1-1 card, but it somehow validated the Batang Pier’s controversial quarterfinal round victory over the Gin Kings less than two months ago when Pringle got away with so many infractions inside the final eight seconds.

Williams’ improved play was also key as he muscled the 7-foot Slaughter out of his sweet spot.

Slaughter returned from a one-game absence to shoot 20 points, but the Gin Kings fell behind big because import Othyus Jeffers struggled offensively.

The 6-foot-2 NBA veteran finished with just eight points in close to 43 minutes.

Ginebra thus lost a second straight game and is again at the bottom of the standings. In the Philippine Cup, the Gin Kings also started out in a cold way and barely made the playoffs before getting the boot in the quarterfinals courtesy of the Batang Pier.

In the first game, Blackwater sent Mahindra reeling to its first defeat after a 110-102 win.

Carlo Lastimosa also didn’t score that much and got a lot of help as the Elite also rebounded from a losing debut and tied their victims at 1-1.

Lastimosa, after shooting 39 in a losing effort to Meralco also on Wednesday, scored 26 points, but it was Reil Cervantes who played biggest in the fourth period, shooting 18 of his 24, including 4-of-4 from beyond three-point range.

Rookie Art dela Cruz was also big with 19 and import MJ Rhett also fired 19 and grabbed 17 rebounds that allowed him to stick around a little longer at Blackwater.

Augustus Gilchrist showed that he can take over a game, leading Mahindra with 34 points and 14 rebounds, but the usual heavy contributors like KG Canaleta and LA Revilla were held to numbers way below their averages.

Canaleta, after 20 on Wednesday, finished with just 13 and Revilla tossed in just two for the Enforcers.