Gin Kings pull away in 4th against Batang Pier to stay in hunt for playoff bonus

Brgy. Ginebra outscored NorthPort by 16 in the payoff period and cruised to a 122-105 rout of the Batang Pier Sunday night in the elimination round of the PBA Season 47 Commissioner’s Cup at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.

Up by just a point, 93-92, going into the final frame, the Gin Kings dropped 29 points as against their opponent’s 13 to secure the much-needed victory which kept them in the hunt for the second and last spot armed with a twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinal round.

The victory was the 8th in 11 outings for the crowd darlings while the loss was the 6th against the same number of wins for the Mikee Romero-owned franchise.

Jamie Malonzo played his best game so far in a Brgy. Ginebra uniform and torched his former team with 26 points on 9-of-18 shooting including 3-of-8 from 3-point country to go with 3 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and 5 blocks in 32 minutes of play.

“I’m just trying to find my spots. I’ve been trying to find my spots within the offense and you know, just continue to buy into what we’ve been doing here,” said Malonzo during the post-game presser with the best player and winning coach.

Justin Brownlee led the charge with a near triple-double performance of 31 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists while Christian Standhardinger added 20 points, 13 boards and 7 dimes. Jeremiah Gray chipped in 12 markers while reigning league MVP Scottie Thompson contributed 8 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists and a steal.

“We’re just happy we still have something to fight for at this point,” said Brgy. Ginebra head coach Tim Cone as his team remained in the fight for a playoff incentive despite falling to NLEX in their previous game.

The Gin Kings will wrap up their elimination round schedule against the Converge FiberXers on Wednesday, November 30, 5:45pm at the same venue.

The scores:

Brgy. Ginebra 122 – Brownlee 31, Malonzo 26, Standhardinger 20, Gray 12, Thompson 8, J.Aguilar 7, Pringle 7, Mariano 6, Tenorio 3, Pinto 2.

NorthPort 105 – Tolentino 24, Ibeh 23, Bolick 22, Navarro 11, Chan 10, Ferrer 8, Balanza 4, Taha 3, Sumang 0.

Quarterscores: 27-34, 63-63, 93-92, 122-105.