MANILA – Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings kicked off its title defense with a 100-86 beating of Converge FiberXers in the 2023 PBA Commissioner’s Cup last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Reinforcement Tony Bishop Jr. finished with a double-double of 34 points and 12 rebounds, while Christian Standhardinger also ended with a double-double of 25 points and 16 rebounds for the Gin Kings.
Earl Scottie Thompson tallied 13 points, six assists and five rebounds, while Japeth Aguilar finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds for Gin Kings, which are shorthanded with the injuries to Jamie Malonzo, Jeremiah Gray, LA Tenorio, and Aljon Mariano.
The Gin Kings had a strong start behind Standhardinger and Bishop before suddenly trailing at 41-50, but quickly recovered courtesy of triples from Thompson and Stanley Pringle for a 54-52 halftime lead.
Barangay Ginebra started to pull away in the third period behind Maverick Ahanmisi, Thompson, Standhardinger and Bishop as the lead reached its biggest at 16 points in the fourth quarter.
“We are worried that we were not sharp as Converge because they already have a couple of games. But we found our legs in the second half and pull away,” said Gin Kings head coach Tim Cone.
Justin Arana tallied 20 points to go with eight rebounds, while Jerrick Balanza and Tom Vodanovich ended up with 13 markers apiece as the FiberXers sustained its third loss in as many games.
In the first game, Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots zoomed to a 3-0 start in the conference after a 112-74 rout of NorthPort Batang Pier, which tasted its first loss after a 2-0 start.
The Hotshots were on fire in the opening quarter as they cruised to a 28-8 start behind Andy Mark Barroca. The Batang Pier tried to rally back in the second quarter, but Tyler Bey and Ian Sangalang connected from inside as Magnolia established a 56-40 edge.
Magnolia continued with its rampage in the second half behind connections from Paul Lee and Jiovani Jalalon as the lead reached its biggest at 110-72 on a basket by Joseph Eriobu.
Bey finished with 25 points, eight rebounds, and six assists to lead the Hotshots, Barroca and Lee chipped in 17 and 16 markers, respectively, while Jalalon and Sangalang ended with 11 points each./PN
BOX SCORE:
GINEBRA 100 – Bishop 34, Standhardinger 25, Thompson 13, J. Aguilar 11, Pringle 8, Ahanmisi 7, Pinto 2, Cu 0, Pessumal 0, Gumaru 0.
CONVERGE 86 – Arana 20, Balanza 13, Vodanovich 13, Zaldivar 9, Melecio 7, Nieto 7, Stockton 6, Winston 5, Caralipio 3, Racal 3, Wong 0, Fornillos 0, Maagdenberg 0, Tallo 0.
Quarterscores: 25-30, 54-52, 80-67, 100-86.
