MANILA, Philippines, March 3 ------ A place in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup finals is within reach after Barangay Ginebra gave NorthPort another beating by way of a 127-100 mauling at the Araneta Coliseum. Jamie Malonzo and Justin Brownlee starred as the Gin Kings gained a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven affair and pushed the Batang Pier to the brink of elimination.
Malonzo finished with a team-high 25 points on top of 8 rebounds, while Brownlee chalked up a near-triple-double of 22 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists in the biggest blowout of the series. Ginebra battered NorthPort by 22 points in Game 1 then cruised to a 13-point win in Game 2 as it enjoys a whopping winning margin of 20.7 points. But even as the Gin Kings inched closer to another finals appearance, head coach Tim Cone wants his wards to keep their foot on the pedal. “We’ve been talking a lot about discipline, a lot about process, and those are kind of our key words right now in terms of getting ourselves ready for each game. This team has always been a good team about moving on,” said Cone. “It can be hard to move on from wins because you kind of want to live in those wins, but you got to move on from them and — it’s a cliche, I know it — you just got to keep taking each game at a time.” he added.
Japeth Aguilar tossed in 17 points and 7 rebounds, Scottie Thompson put up 15 points, 6 assists, and 3 steals, while RJ Abarrientos tallied a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double for Ginebra. Troy Rosario added 10 points and 5 rebounds in the breezy win that saw the Gin Kings build a 64-40 halftime lead and coast the rest of the way. It was another disappointing result for the Batang Pier, who hardly look like the team that earned the top seed in the elimination round.
NorthPort lost only thrice out of 12 games in the eliminations but has already matched that tally in as many games in the semifinals. Import Kadeem Jack topscored for the Batang Pier with 32 points, 4 assists, and 2 steals, while Arvin Tolentino had 15 points and 5 rebounds. Game 4 is on Wednesday, March 5, at the same venue.
The Scores
Barangay Ginebra 127 – Malonzo 25, Brownlee 22, J.Aguilar 17, Thompson 15, Abarrientos 10, Rosario 10, Ahanmisi 6, Holt 5, Pessumal 4, Gray 4, R.Aguilar 3, Adamos 2, Mariano 2, Tenorio 2, Cu 0, Pinto 0.
NorthPort 100 – Jack 32, Tolentino 15, Taha 11, Yu 6, Miranda 6, Bulanadi 6, Munzon 5, Cuntapay 5, Flores 4, Nelle 3, Navarro 3, Tratter 2, Onwubere 2.
Quarters: 30-21, 64-40, 99-68, 127-100.
Source: rappler.com
Comments