TERRENCE Romeo announced his return for GlobalPort by scoring a game-high 26 points and boosting his team to a 107-101 win over Rain or Shine Friday that kept the Batang Pier in the PBA Commissioner's Cup playoff race at the Alonte Sports Arena in Binan, Laguna.
Ten of Romeo's points came after GlobalPort fell behind by 86-94 and the man who missed two games due to his Gilas commitments capped his heroics with a clutch triple and two free throws that made it 103-98, only 53 seconds left.
Romeo also wound up with seven assists and five boards with his scoring highlighted by a 4-for-10 three-point shooting.
Much like what they did in a 94-86 shocker over Meralco, new recruits Sean Anthony and Brad Guinto chipped in their ample share with Anthony converting off a tough drive that pegged a 105-101 count and the latter sealing the count with two charities.
Justin Harper bucked foul trouble to finish with 19 points and 10 boards while Stanley Pringle and Anthony wound up with 15 points each as GlobalPort notched its fourth win in 10 games to tie idle Phoenix at eighth.
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The Fuel Masters wind up their elimination round assignment against NLEX Saturday and the Batang Pier still have to take on San Miguel Beer on Friday.
Should GlobalPort and Phoenix remain tied and no one else catches up with them they would play off for the last slot in the quarterfinals.
The loss, its fifth in 10 games, jeopardized Rain or Shine's bid to hang on among the top six as its lead over Alaska dwindled to just half a game.
The Elasto Painters could hang on to at least No. 6 should they win over TNT KaTropa on Sunday or, should they lose, be faced with a twice-to-win handicap over a top two team in the next round.
Duke Crews finished with 23 points and 17 rebounds while former two-time MVP James Yap showed flashes of his old brilliance with 22 markers. Jericho Cruz added 14 points and Jeff Chan and Raymond Almazan, himself a returnee from Gilas, 10 each.
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But Rain or Shine could not sustain the fire that saw it fight back from an early 16-point deficit and visibly struggled after taking a 95-88 lead into the final 4:28 of the game.
Harper committed two fouls within 17 seconds for a total of five and had to be taken out starting at the 6:08 mark of the third. He returned at the final 5:01 mark and promptly made his presence felt with his third triple of the game, followed by a similar shot from deep by Romeo that sparked GlobalPort's most decisive charge.
Rain or Shine simply took some time pouncing on the opening created by Harper's long benching and it took a Yap triple to ignite a 16-2 run that razed the E-Painters' 78-84 deficit and put them ahead 94-86, 5:15 to go.
Prior to that stretch the Batang Pier locals held their ground against Crews and the rest of Rain or Shine and GlobalPort went into the fourth with a 75-73 edge, which was stretched by Guinto, Von Pessumal and Mike Cortez.
It was basically a nip-and-tuck affair in the two middle quarters.
Anthony scored 10 of his 11 first half points in a 15-0 run that gave GlobalPort a 27-14 lead at the end of the first quarter and as much as a 30-14 spread.
In that four-minute span, the E-Painters committed six turnovers and went 0-for-2 from the floor.
Rain or Shine would not wilt, however, with Yap snapping the team out of its drought by burying a triple and adding seven more points to spark and fuel a fightback that saw the E-Painters wrest back the lead at 42-40.
Harper and Romeo then hooked up and made it a 48-44 Batang Pier lead at the half.
