Christian Standhardinger finally saw his efforts translate to a victory as Ginebra breezed past the free-falling Blackwater, 119-93, to return to the PBA Governors’ Cup win column, Sunday night at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
The 2019 BPC starred with 27 points, six rebounds, and five assists as he continued his fine play after a 29-10-7 performance against ex-team San Miguel the last time out, albeit in a loss as the Kings’ late rally fell short.
He scored 11 in the first quarter alone, joining forces with Justin Brownlee and Jamie Malonzo in steering the reigning champions to a big 37-20 lead to take control of the game for good en route to their fourth win.
Brownlee and Malonzo scored 10 and nine points, respectively, in that explosive start that also set the tone for solid performances for the two.
“We knew tonight that we had to kinda jump out of that and make sure that we’re beating the teams we’re supposed to beat,” said head coach Tim Cone.
“And I think that was just really on everybody’s minds. We needed to come out and make sure that we got this one tonight. I don’t think we did anything special. I just think we came out and played our game,” he added.
Malonzo finished with 25 points on five three-pointers, on top of seven rebounds and three assists. The three-time Best Import, on the other hand, made 22 markers, 10 boards, five dimes, two steals, and two blocks.
Scottie Thompson also made his presence felt with 11 points, four rebounds, and seven assists in the triumph.
The Barangay shot 61-percent from the floor, big thanks to the 33 assists they dished as a team.
“We pride ourselves on ball movement. We’ve done that conference after conference. We pride ourselves in our unselfishness. That’s something that we look for every game,” the league’s winningest mentor said.
Ginebra won’t play until March 1 as it will enter a week-long break due to its Gilas duties for Window 6 of the FIBA World Cup 2023 Asian Qualifiers. The Kings will battle Meralco at the SMART Araneta Coliseum in their return.
The comebacking Shawn Glover, meanwhile, had 14 points and 10 rebounds to lead Blackwater, who fell to its sixth consecutive defeat.
Baser Amer and the frontcourt duo of Ato Ular and Yousef Taha made 12 points apiece. Meanwhile, Mike DiGregorio added 11.
The Bossing last tasted a win with a 108-105 escape of Phoenix Super LPG back on January 27.
Blackwater will next face NorthPort on February 25, Saturday, at 4:30 PM, also at the Big Dome, hoping of course to end its struggles.
The Scores:
Ginebra 119 – Standhardinger 27, Malonzo 25, Brownlee 22, Thompson 11, Gray 8, Tenorio 6, Pringle 6, Pinto 5, Pessumal 5, Mariano 2, R.Aguilar 0, David 0, Onwubere 0.
Blackwater 93 – Glover 14, Ular 12, Amer 12, Taha 12, DiGregorio 11, McCarthy 9, Ilagan 9, Escoto 4, Toralba 2, Banal 2 Casio 2, Sena 2, Hill 2.
Quarterscores: 37-20, 62-44, 96-74, 119-93.
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
