PBA: Ginebra scrapes past Meralco, moves into top four
MANILA, Philippines-Barangay Ginebra moved inside the top four despite some of its main players weary from Gilas Pilipinas duties after outlasting Meralco, 112-107, in the PBA Governors’ Cup on Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Justin Brownlee, Christian Standhardinger and Jeremiah Gray delivered big shots down the stretch as the Gin Kings got their fifth victory in seven games on the night LA Tenorio’s record streak came to an end at 744 consecutive games.
Ginebra prevailed despite Brownlee, Scottie Thompson and Jamie Malonzo being 48 hours removed from suiting up for Gilas in the sixth window of the Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers.
“I can’t be more proud of the three of those guys for coming out and reaching deep and continuing to play and lead the team,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone, who was also coming off his role as Gilas assistant.
“But we also said that we would need other people to rely on. And lo and behold—Nards [Pinto], Miah (Gray) and Christian—they were the three key guys that played well,” added Cone.
Standhardinger continued his strong offensive play since the injury of Japeth Aguilar with 31 points with 10 rebounds and seven assists while Brownlee posted 29 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Gray and Pinto scored 12 points each, Malonzo had 16 points, four rebounds and two steals while Thompson added seven points, six rebounds and 10 assists.
Import KJ McDaniels’ 28 points didn’t seal a third straight win for Meralco, which fell to 5-4.
Meralco led for the majority of the contest, the highest at 10 in the first half, but Ginebra once again found ways to wrest control.
Brownlee and Gray made most of the shots in the final four minutes when Ginebra was able to break out of a 97-all tie. Brownlee scored five in a row while Gray hit back-to-back threes as the Gin Kings led 98-92 with under a minute left.
The Scores:
GINEBRA 112 — Standhardinger 31, Brownlee 29, Malonzo 16, Gray 12, Pinto 12, Thompson 7, Pringle 5, Dillinger 0.
MERALCO 107 — McDaniels 28, Maliksi 23, Newsome 15, Black 14, Hodge 10, Quinto 10, Banchero 5, Almazan 2, Caram 0, Jose 0.
Quarters: 32-37, 54-61, 76-80, 112-107.