By REYNALD MAGALLON
It was Barangay Ginebra’s turn to shoot the lights out with its stunning display of offensive clout.
Jamie Malonzo and Stanley Pringle rediscovered their deadly shooting touch and the Gin Kings overpowered the TNT Tropang Giga, 117-103, for a 2-1 series lead in the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals Friday, April 14, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Inserted to the starting lineup for the first time in the conference, Pringle did not disappoint, coming through with a perfect 7-of-7 clip from the field, including 6-of-6 from the three-point territory to finish with 22 points
Malonzo, on the other hand, also buried six triples as he spearheaded a telling 25-9 run to establish a commanding 16-point lead, 113-97, from an 88-88 deadlock midway through the final frame.
He finished with 26 points apart from his 10 rebounds while Justin Brownlee bounced back from a dismal showing in Game 2 with 29 points as the defendingchampoon shot an 18-of-32 from beyond the arc for a whopping 56-percent clip.
The 18 triples were an all-time franchise record for Ginebra, erasing the previous record of 16 which the Kings recorded seven times, the most recent during their quarterfinals game against NLEX.
“We shot the ball really well tonight, from different angles from Stanley. Stanley kept us in the game in the first half and then hit big shots in the second half,” Ginebra head coach Tim Cone said of Pringle who was the first player to achieve a perfect three-point clip with at least six makes in the finals.
Pringle actually started it all for Ginebra scoring 16 of his total in the first half and kept his team afloat against the second quarter explosion of Mikey Williams that allowed TNT to briefly take a 47-44 lead before settling for a tied 57-57 count at the break.
Despite the contributions from Pringle and the return of Brownlee to his old, deadly self, Ginebra couldn’t really pull away for good as Rondae Hollis-Jeffferson and Jayson Castro kept the Tropang Giga within striking distance even tying the game 88-all with 8:56 to go.
But when Malonzo, Pringle and Brownlee combined for five triples in a massive run, the Gin King steadily pulled away to the cheers of their adoring fans.
Hollis-Jefferson paced TNT with 32 points, 10 rebounds and six assists while Williams added 19 built on five treys. The efforts however went down the drain as the Tropang Giga now look to avoid falling into a 1-3 hole come Game 4 still at the Big Dome.
The scores:
GINEBRA 117 – Brownlee 29, Malonzo 27, Pringle 22, Thompson 16, Standhardinger 16, Gray 5, J.Aguilar 2, Mariano 0, Pinto 0, Onwubere 0.
TNT 103 – Hollis-Jefferson 32, M.Williams 19, Erram 14, Castro 14, Pogoy 13, Khobuntin 6, Oftana 3, Tungcab 2, Marcelo 0, Montalbo 0.
Quarters: 29-19, 57-57, 87-81, 117-103
