MANILA – Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings overcame a third quarter hiccup to turn back NorthPort Batang Pier, 118-102, in Game 1 of the 2022 PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals last night at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
After seeing their 12-point first half edge turned to a 70-all score, the Kings woke up with baskets from Jamie Malonzo and Stanley Pringle, and consecutive scores by Justin Brownlee to pull away at 89-74.
Ginebra went on to build its largest lead at 106-86 after a triple by Pringle but NorthPort had another run to cut the deficit to 99-110. Back-to-back three-pointers by LA Tenorio, however, sealed the win for the Kings.
Brownlee finished the game with 39 points, with 19 coming in the third quarter, to go with eight rebounds and seven assists. The Kings took a 1-0 advantage in the best-of-three series.
Pringle chipped in 16 markers, including four outside conversions. Malonzo had 13 points and nine rebounds, while Tenorio and Earl Scottie Thompson had 12 and 11 markers, respectively, for the Gin Kings.
Arvin Tolentino led the way with 29 markers for the Batang Pier, Robert Bolick Jr. added 21 markers, while reinforcement Prince Ibeh and Kevin Ferrer had 18 and 15 markers, respectively.
San Miguel Beermen also moved a win away from clinching a semifinals seat following a clinical 114-96 domination of the youth-laden Converge FiberXers in Game 1 of their own best-of-three quarterfinals series.
The Beermen went to work early inside conversions from Jaymar Perez, Devon Scott and June Mar Fajardo for a 21-13 edge. The lead grew further in the second period behind Perez and Scott as it reached 55-32 at the half.
The lead reached as high as 31 points in the third quarter before the FiberXers rallied to within 11 points in the fourth period. The Beemen, however, leaned on Perez’s conversions to secure the series-opener win.
Perez led the Beermen with 25 points, Scott had double-double 23 points and 12 rebounds, Fajardo added 19 points and 16 rebounds, while while Terrence Romeo and Marcio Lassiter finished with 13 and 11 markers, respectively.
BOX SCORE:
GINEBRA 118 – Brownlee 39, Pringle 16, Malonzo 13, Tenorio 12, Thompson 11, Gray 9, J. Aguilar 7, Mariano 6, Standhardinger 5.
NORTHPORT 102 – Tolentino 29, Bolick 21, Ibeh 18, Ferrer 15, Sumang 9, Navarro 8, Ayaay 2, Chan 0, Balanza 0, Calma 0.
Quarterscores: 29-24, 56-50, 89-74, 118-102./PN
