Arvin Tolentino is rising to the occasion as the dominant NorthPort squad approaches a difficult phase of their PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup campaign.

The San Miguel teams were the opponents in half of Batang Pier’s final six elimination round games. In between will be a matchup with a dominant Rain or Shine team that could endanger their scorching winning streak.

After crushing TNT 112-96 on Friday night, the squad extended their winning run to four games, positioning them as one of the conference’s hottest teams.

In games to be hosted at the storied Ninoy Aquino Stadium, Tolentino and NorthPort will play Magnolia on April 10, Ginebra four days later, and the Elasto Painters on April 17.

The Batang Pier will next play their final match at the Philsports Arena on July 21 versus San Miguel, who are currently the first seed with a perfect 4-0 record.

Nobody should be held accountable if they find the schedule too demanding, but the star forward sees it as a step in the right direction toward their shared objective of being the team they have always wanted to be.

That is to mature into a team capable of overcoming setbacks and advancing past the quarterfinals after previously failing on numerous occasions.

The team, which was then captained by Christian Standhardinger and Sean Anthony with Pido Jarencio on the sidelines, advanced to the semifinals in the Governors’ Cup in 2019.

He was therefore excited about their upcoming four games, which was further stoked by their convincing victory over the Tropang Giga, which tied the franchise record for longest winning streak.

Meanwhile, following Sunday night’s victory over the team that was meant to be his PBA debut, Javi Gomez de Liaño has no animosity toward Ginebra.

After an incredible 22 points and six rebounds to lead the Dyip to an 81-65 surprise victory against the defending champions in the Season 48 Philippine Cup, the sophomore winger declared that it was all very personal.

Previously Ginebra selected Gomez de Liano with the eighth overall pick in the 2022 PBA Rookie Draft; however, he was dealt to Terrafirma for Jeremiah Gray, the second pick of the batch, along with Brian Enriquez.

The former import from Ibaraki claimed that as soon as he practiced with the Dyip for the first time, he focused on making them better. He had no choice but to support Terrafirma in getting the victory over Ginebra because of this, which they achieved.

In addition to sending the crowd’s darlings into a three-game slump, the Dyip also snapped their own to win their fourth conference game, putting them two wins away from securing a quarterfinal berth.