Jamie Malonzo showed that he can perform under brighter lights as Ginebra survived Magnolia, 87-84, to gain a head start in their PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinal battle, Wednesday night at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
The sophomore winger starred with a playoff career-high 21 points and 12 rebounds in a performance that saw him deliver in key plays down the stretch to ultimately allow the Kings take the early lead in the best-of-5 series.
He fed Christian Standhardinger for the eventual scoreline with 1:23 remaining, then prevented Paul Lee from finding a good look inside the final 12 seconds to redeem himself after committing a turnover that led to that possession.
“We can’t have our heads down during moments like that, and we just gotta keep moving forward,” said the former third overall pick.
Malonzo coming through was indeed big after Justin Brownlee was held to only 11 points and 13 rebounds, and committed seven turnovers.
The two-time Best Import even failed to ice the game after muffing both of his free throws with 5.2 seconds left, but Standhardinger was there to make sure that the ball won’t go their foe’s way as Ginebra escaped.
Reigning MVP Scottie Thompson finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Standhardinger added 14 markers and six boards.
“It was really a struggle and it’s such a mental game out there,” said coach Tim Cone, who is celebrating his 65th birthday. “But our guys, they just kept battling. It wasn’t pretty … it’s about getting it done, and that’s what the guys did.”
Ginebra barely got through against a Magnolia side that lost Nick Rakocevic at the 6:31-mark of the third quarter following an F1 infraction. He was already assessed a technical in the chapter prior, thus the premature exit.
Leading the fight for the depleted yet gutsy Hotshots was Lee, who finished with 21 points in their second defeat to the Kings this conference.
Aris Dionisio had 12 points, while the star tandem of Ian Sangalang and Calvin Abueva added 10 points apiece in the loss.
Game Two is on Friday at 3 p.m. in the same battleground. with the Barangay hoping to build a 2-0 lead to move on the cusp of returning to the Finals.
The Scores:
Ginebra 87 – Malonzo 21, Thompson 16, Standhardinger 14, Brownlee 11, Pringle 8, Tenorio 6, J.Aguilar 6, Gray 3, Mariano 2.
Magnolia 84 – Lee 21, Dionisio 12, Sangalang 10, Abueva 10, Dela Rosa 7, Jalalon 6, Barroca 4, Corpuz 4, Mendoza 0, Reavis 0, Wong 0, Laput 0.
Quarterscores: 24-22, 45-44, 70-67, 87-84
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
