Ginebra maximized its win-once quarterfinal incentive by blowing out Magnolia, 99-77, to book the first ticket to the PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup semis, Saturday night at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
Christian Standhardinger starred with a season-high 36 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists to lead the no. 2 seed in taking control early to eventually earn the quick trip to the penultimate phase that starts next week.
“We have lots of respect for Magnolia. They’ve handled us quite a bit over the last couple of years, so we know we had to come out and play a great game,” offered head coach Tim Cone postgame.
The two-time BPC bannered a balanced attack by the Kings, which saw him and the rest of the starters finish in double figures in the rout.
Maverick Ahanmisi produced 16 points on three triples, together with six boards. Japeth Aguilar supplied 12 points and five boards.
Scottie Thompson tallied an 11-6-10 stat line with a career-high seven steals. Rookie Ralph Cu had 11 as well, alongside four rebounds and six dimes.
That solid showing as a collective was fueled mostly by what they witnessed in the first game earlier, where the top-seeded San Miguel got dragged to a sudden death by the No. 8 Terrafirma by way of a 106-95 result.
“We saw what happened to San Miguel in the first game and we didn’t want that happening to us,” said Cone as the awaited Beermen-Dyip do-or-die is scheduled on Wednesday. May 15, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
“I felt like the guys came out aggressively and did a great job defensively and we had a really good energy throughout the game and kept on pushing.”
Ginebra will now wait for the winner between Meralco and NLEX for its semis foes. The Bolts lead the best-of-3 series, 1-0, and could end it on Sunday.
Mark Barroca, on the other hand, was the lone bright spot for the Hotshots with 19 points, six rebounds, and eight assists. It was a dim night for other stars Ian Sangalang and Paul Lee, with only eight and six points, respectively.
It also didn’t help Coach Chito Victolero and Co. that they lost Jio Jalalon, who hurt his knee during the first quarter and no longer returned to action.
The Scores:
Ginebra 99 – Standhardinger 26, Ahanmisi 16, J.Aguilar 12, Thompson 11, Cu 11, Pringle 6, Gumaru 3, Pinto 2, David 2, Onwubere 0, R.Aguilar 0, Pessumal 0, Tenorio 0, Murrell 0.
Magnolia 77 – Barroca 19, Dionisio 10, Sangalang 8, Tratter 8, Abueva 8, Mendoza 7, Lee 6, Laput 4, Balanza 3, Dela Rosa 2, Ahanmis 2, Reavis 0, Jalalon 0, Eriobu 0.
Quarterscores: 28-17, 52-36, 80-58, 99-77
