MANILA – Earl Scottie Thompson delivered in clutch as Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings pulled off a come-from-behind 86-78 victory over TNT Tropang Giga in the 2023-24 PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Christmas Day at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Down 74-72 with over three minutes left, the Gin Kings converted six straight points courtesy of Christian Standhardinger, LA Tenorio, and Thompson to take a 79-74 advantage.
The Tropang Giga cut it to 76-79 on a connection from Calvin Oftana, but Thompson unloaded back-to-back three-pointers to widen the Gin Kings’ lead to 85-78 with 32 seconds remaining.
Thompson finished the game with 12 points, with eight coming in the fourth quarter, to go with seven rebounds, seven assists and a steal as the defending champions Ginebra moved up to 6-3.
Standhardinger led the way with 22 points, 10 rebounds and six assists; Tony Bishop Jr. chipped in 15 points, 12 rebounds and six assists; while Maverick Ahanmisi and Japeth Aguilar ended with 11 points apiece for Ginebra.
Despite facing a shorthanded Tropang Giga, the Gin Kings struggled in the opening quarter with Oftana spearheading the offense for TNT as they established a 28-15 lead midway through the second quarter.
The Gin Kings, however, countered with a run behind Bishop, Ahanmisi, Standhardinger, and Jamie Malonzo to take a 37-34 lead, but the Tropang Giga tied the score at 37-all at the half on a triple by Glenn Khobuntin.
The Tropang Giga pulled away anew at 48-40 to start off the third canto behind three-pointers by Oftana and inside hits from Jewel Ponferrada. It further went up to 61-52 late in the quarter with conversions from Kim Aurin and Ponferrada.
Barangay Ginebra started the final quarter with baskets from Stanley Pringle, Standhardinger and Bishop to snatch a 69-67 lead. Both teams traded advantages before TNT tasted the lead for the last time at 74-72 on Oftana’s shot.
Oftana finished with 27 points, including three outside shots, while Ponferrada and Khobuntin added 14 and 13, respectively, for the Tropang Giga (4-5), which were without import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and a number of local stars./PN
BOX SCORE:
GINEBRA 86 – Standhardinger 22, Bishop 15, Thompson 12, J. Aguilar 11, Ahanmisi 11, Malonzo 7, Pringle 6, Tenorio 2, Onwubere 0, David 0.
TNT 78 – Oftana 27, Ponferrada 14, Khobuntin 13, Williams 7, Aurin 6, Montalbo 5, Galinato 4, Ganuelas-Rosser 2, Tolomia 0, Reyes 0, Cruz 0.
Quarterscores: 13-21, 37-37, 59-65, 86-78.
