BARANGAY Ginebra took the series opener of their PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinal against NorthPort on Wednesday night, dealing the No. 1 seed a humiliating 115-93 drubbing at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
The Gin Kings' national players showed no signs of fatigue after Gilas Pilipinas' hectic campaign in the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 qualifiers, helping Ginebra put together a 32-14 third quarter that broke open what until then was a close game.
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Justin Brownlee had 19 points in just 32 minutes of action while Troy Rosario had 16 points and eight rebounds just a day after arriving from Auckland where Gilas played its final game of the Asia Cup qualifiers.
The Gin Kings led by as many as 30 points in the opener of the best-of-seven semifinal series, giving coach Tim Cone the luxury of resting his starters and fielding players like Aljun Mariano, Raymond Aguilar, and Nards Pinto.
Kadeem Jack had 33 points and 12 rebounds for NorthPort, but top Best Player of the Conference candidate Arvin Tolentino was limited to only eight points on a horrendous 2-of-11 shooting from the field.
Game 2 is set on Friday, 5 p.m. at the Philsports Arena.
Cone credited the work of his deputies Olsen Racela and Kirk Collier with the team while he and the other Ginebra stars were away on Gilas duty.
“I thought coach Olsen and coach Kirk did such a fantastic job with the guys over the last two weeks preparing them,” said Cone, who arrived in Manila with the rest of Gilas on the eve of Game One.
Among the Ginebra players who stayed behind in Manila were RJ Abarrientos, who finished with 15 points, six rebounds, and seven assists. He and Rosario combined for 14 points in the third quarter.
“They had a practice game against a Korean team so I felt like I walked into practice and like RJ and Stephen (Holt) and everybody were just really raring to go,” Cone added.
The Gin Kings opened the third quarter on a 17-4 run after they took a slim 56-51 lead at the half. They didn’t let up, leading by as much as 111-81 late in the fourth when the second and third stringers were on the floor.
The scores:
Barangay Ginebra 115 – Brownlee 19, Rosario 16, Abarrientos 15, Malonzo 14, J. Aguilar 11, Cu 9, Holt 7, Mariano 7, Thompson 6, Ahanmisi 5, R. Aguilar 3, Pessumal 2, Pinto 1, Adamos 0.
NorthPort 93 – Jack 33, Munzon 10, Tolentino 8, Navarro 8, Nelle 7, Onwubere 7, Taha 6, Bulanadi 4, Cuntapay 3, Yu 3, Miranda 2, Flores 2.
Quarters: 31-22; 56-51; 88-65; 115-93.
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