Ginebra aced the NLEX test, 103-99, to secure the remaining playoff incentive in the PBA Season 48 Commissioner’s Cup, Saturday night at the Ibalong Centrum for Recreation in Legazpi City.
Maverick Ahanmisi nailed the all-important triple for the 96-94 lead with 2:46 to go in the game.
Then Christian Standhardinger and Tony Bishop chipped in to make sure that the Kings would remain ahead the rest of the way.
Free throws by Stanley Pringle off a Jhan Nermal foul with about five seconds left to play enabled the reigning conference champions to lock a twice-to-beat edge in the quarterfinals projected to start next week.
Bishop led the pack with 27 points and 13 rebounds as Ginebra finished the eliminations with an 8-3 card.
The crowd darlings’ win, witnessed live by approximately 6,500 fans, crushed the top four hopes of Meralco.
Their last chance of finishing at no. 4 was their rivals losing to the Road Warriors in the out-of-town tiff in Albay.
Standhardinger finished with 18 points, eight rebounds, and six assists. Jamie Malonzo produced 16 points on a 4-of-7 clip from beyond the arc. The backcourt tandem of Pringle and Ahanmisi supplied 13 apiece for the Barangay.
DeAndre Williams-Baldwin, meanwhile, had 27 points and 14 rebounds to lead NLEX, who dropped to ninth in the standings with a 4-7 card.
The Road Warriors will need TNT to lose versus Phoenix on Sunday to set up a playoff for no. 8.
Enoch Valdez had 17 points and five rebounds. Nermal had 15 points, while Tony Semerad supplied 14. Sean Anthony had 12.
Meanwhile, Robert Bolick added 10 markers, eight rebounds, and 11 assists for a side that mismanaged a 79-68 lead.
They did try to save themselves when Semerad got them to within one through a triple, but Ginebra could no longer be neutralized.
Bishop nailed a trey of his own to give his team the 101-97 lead with 1:07 left in the match.
The Scores:
Ginebra 103 – Bishop 27, Standhardinger 18, Malonzo 16, Ahanmisi 13, Pringle 13, J.Aguilar 6, Thompson 4, Pinto 3, Pessumal 3, Tenorio 0
NLEX 99 – Williams-Baldwin 27, Valdez 17, Nermal 15, Semerad 14, Anthony 12, Bolick 8, Rodger 4, Miranda 0.
Quarterscores: 31-23, 53-54, 77-82, 103-99.
