By REYNALD MAGALLON
Barangay Ginebra came out with guns blazing and thumped an uncharacteristically sloppy Rain or Shine, 120-98, to formally clinch a spot in the quarterfinals in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo on Wednesday, Jan. 22.
Coming off a tough loss to the TNT Tropang Giga, the Kings showed the sense of urgency and opened up an 17-3 lead and never looked back from there en route to the wire-to-wire win.
Ginebra improved to a 7-4 record good for the sixth spot of the standings while ROS slid to a 6-4 slate with still two games left in its eliminations schedule.
The win also enabled the Kings to remain in the conversation for the Top 2 spots which merits a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.
Justin Brownlee fired 29 points, 13 rebounds and six assists while Scottie Thompson typified Ginebra’s best offensive game with his 22 points, six rebounds and eight assists.
Meanwhile, Mark Nonoy erupted for a conference-best showing as Terrafirma pulled the rug from under TNT, 117-108, to salvage some measure of pride before exiting the conference.
The Dyip rookie fired 33 points built on five triples, steering his team to a huge shocker that not only allowed them to snap a 12-game losing streak beginning from last conference but also avoid another winless run.
Terrafirma ended the mid-season tiff with a 1-11 record but also played a big spoiler to TNT’s playoff plans after the loss snapped its six-game win streak and dropped it from the top spot down to the fifth with a 6-3 slate.
Nonoy added four rebounds, four assists and a steal to complete his career night while import Brandon Edwards added 19 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.
Louie Sangalang added 16 and Aljun Melecio and Kemark Carino had 10 apiece to give head coach Raymond Tongco his breakthrough PBA win.
Terrafirma, after holding its ground in the opening frame against TNT, rode on a 36 and 38-point explosion through the middle quarters to take a commanding 99-70 lead.