January 8 ------ BARANGAY Ginebra went on a telling run midway in the final quarter to take the fight out of Northport, 103-93, and stay in the hunt for a twice-to-beat edge in the PBA Commissioner's Cup playoffs. Japeth Aguilar, Tony Bishop, Scottie Thompson, and Maverick Ahanmisi made possible a 12-0 blast by the Kings and finally pulled away from a hard-fighting Batang Pier side. The run turned around a five-point Ginebra lead to 96-79 after Ahanmisi hit a corner three with 4:37 left in the game played before a huge Sunday crowd at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. The win was the third straight for the Kings, who kept in step with San Miguel Beer at 7-3 for a tie at fourth and fifth places, respectively.
Bishop led the Kings with 26 points, 11 rebounds, and five steals despite being a game time decision, according to coach Tim Cone. "He banged up his knee in practice. There's some swelling, but all the ligaments are intact. So it's just a matter of maintenance, icing it down, keep the swelling out, and hopefully it will be OK," said Cone of the do-it-all import. Jamie Malonzo and Christian Standhardingere finished with 16 points each for Ginebra, which also drew double digit scoring from Aguilar (15 pts), Ahanmisi (13 pts), and Stanley Pringle (10 pts). Thompson finished with only seven points, but added seven rebounds, and had 10 of the Kings' total 35 assists.
Arvin Tolentino shot 4-of-8 from three-point for 27 points to lead Northport, while import Jois Venky had 21 and 17 rebounds. The Batang Pier kept it close for the most part of the match and were still in striking distance at 84-79 with 8:29 to go, before the Kings put together that huge game-changing run. By the time rookie Fran Yu ended the drought for Northport, Barangay Ginebra was already in command, 96-81, with four minutes left in the game. "We had to earn the victory tonight. They really made us earn it. And we had to battle," said Cone of the Batang Pier.
Northport ended its elimination round campaign with a 6-5 record as it fell short of gaining a twice-to-beat advantage heading to the playoffs.
The scores
Ginebra (103) - Bishop 26, Malonzo 16, Standhardinger 16, J.Aguilar 15, Ahanmisi 13, Pringle 10, Thompson 7, Tenorio 0, Pinto 0, Onwubere 0, Cu 0, Gumaru 0.
Northport (93) - Tolentino 27, Jois 21, Zamar 11, Calma 10, Yu 8, Munzon 6, Chan 5, Paraiso 5, Flores 0, Rosales 0, Amores 0, Adamos 0.
Quarterscores: 24-26; 50-50; 77-72; 103-93.
Source: spin.ph
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