Gin Kings boot out Road Warriors, arrange semis clash with Beermen

Brgy. Ginebra gave import-less NLEX the boot via 34-point rout, 127-93, Sunday night in the quarterfinal round of the PBA Season 47 Governors’ Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

The Road Warriors, who needed to beat the Gin Kings back-to-back in order to advance to the next round, played without Wayne Selden who was nursing a sprained ankle which he sustained during their previous game against San Miguel. The former NBA player averaged 31.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 6.7 assists prior to missing the must-win match.

The Frankie Lim-mentored squad was able to keep in step with the defending champs during the opening quarter and were only down by a solitary point, 18-17, entering the second period. They, however, were outscored by 19 points and entered the halftime break down by 20, 56-36. The onslaught continued in the second half with the crowd darlings erecting their biggest lead of 38 after a three-pointer by Von Pessumal with 9 minutes left in the one-sided match.

The victory arranged an all-SMC semifinals following San Miguel’s conquest of Converge earlier in the day.

“The game would have been a lot, lot different with Selden there. I commiserate with Frankie [Lim] and that group because it’s really tough to lose your import going to the playoffs,” said Brgy. Ginebra head coach Tim Cone during the post-game presser.

“The thing I’m proud about our guys is we didn’t leave anything for chance, we didn’t go down and let up. We stayed aggressive,” he added.

“As for this five-game series, we’re playing well, but San Miguel is probably playing best in the league right now. They’re playing really well.”

Justin Brownlee paced the Gin Kings with 31 points on 14-of-20 shooting with 3-of-7 coming from the three-point area. The 3-time Best Import awardee also contributed 13 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals and a block in 38 minutes of action.

Christian Standhardinger, the leading contender for the Best Player of the Conference (BPC), and Jamie Malonzo tallied 20 points each while Jeremiah Gray and Von Pessumal added 15 and 12 markers, respectively. Scottie Thompson and Aljon Mariano chipped in 10 points apiece.

The scores:

Brgy. Ginebra 127 – Brownlee 31, Standhardinger 20, Malonzo 20, Gray 15, Pessumal 12, Thompson 10, Mariano 10, Pringle 5, Pinto 4, Onwubere 0, R. Aguilar 0, David 0.

NLEX 93 – Anthony 16, Alas 15, Trollano 14, Ganuelas-Rosser 14, Rosales 11, Semerad 10, Miranda 7, Doliguez 4, Nieto 2, Pascual 0, Gabo 0.

Quarterscores: 18-17, 56-36, 93-62, 127-93.