By ADRIAN STEWART CO
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings leaned on a fourth quarter assault to turn back Meralco Bolts, 112-107, in the 2022-2023 PBA Governors’ Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday night, March 1.
Trailing by double-digits in the opening half and by eight early in the fourth, the Gin Kings clawed their way back before taking the lead at 87-86 on a three-pointer by Jeremiah Gray, but the Bolts managed to keep in step to force several deadlocks with the last at 97-all.
Two free throws and a three-pointer by Justin Brownlee followed by back-to-back triples by Gray gave Ginebra a 108-102 upperhand before they secured the win on inside shots by Christian Standhardinger and Jamie Malonzo.
Standhardinger finished with a conference-high 31 points to go with 10 rebounds and seven assists, while Brownlee chipped in 29 markers as the defending champion Gin Kings improved to 5-2.
Malonzo contributed 16 markers, Nard John Pinto and Gray added 12 points each, while Earl Scottie Thompson had 10 assists to go with seven points and six rebounds for Ginebra.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am of Justin, Scottie and Jamie for coming out and playing with the kind of effort and the minutes they played tonight,” Gin Kings’ Tim Cone said.
“It was really a tough week [for Gilas]. The team really relied on the three of them,” he added.
Gin Kings veteran Lewis Alfred Tenorio, who was nursing a sports hernia injury, missed a game for the first time in his PBA career to end the streak of consecutive games played at 744.
“LA is probably out for the rest of the conference. He has aggravated his sports hernia [injury] and he is set to undergo surgery,” Cone said.
KJ McDaniels tallied double-double 28 points and 12 rebounds, Allein Maliksi added 22 markers, while Chris Newsome and Aaron Black had 15 and 14, respectively, as the Bolts fell to 5-4.
GINEBRA 112 — Standhardinger 31, Brownlee 29, Malonzo 16, Pinto 12, Gray 12, Thompson 7, Pringle 5, Dillinger 0.
MERALCO 107 — McDaniels 28, Maliksi 22, Newsome 15, Black 14, Quinto 10, Hodge 10, Banchero 5, Almazan 2, Caram 0, Jose 0.
Quarterscores: 32-37, 54-61, 76-80, 112-107./ASC, WDJ