By REYNALD MAGALLON
Christian Standhardinger erupted for 36 points as Barangay Ginebra booked the first ticket to the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup semifinals with a 99-77 beatdown of Magnolia in the quarterfinals edition of Manila Clasico at the iconic Rizal Memorial Coliseum on Saturday, May 11.
Standhardinger was virtually unstoppable inside the paint, scoring at will and bulldozing his way against the Hotshots’ defense to notch his best scoring performance so far in the Kings uniform.
He added 11 rebounds and five assists in a dominant showing that typified Ginebra’s game-long brilliance where it led by as many as 26 points en route to dispatching the seventh seeded Hotshots.
Maverick Ahanmisi fired 16 points to complement Standhardinger’s interior dominance while Scottie Thompson added his own double-double effort of 11 points and 10 assists apart from his seven steals and six rebounds.
All of the starters actually played heavy minutes for Ginebra and all of them registered in double figures with Japeth Aguilar contributing 12 points and Ralph Cu adding 11 points.
With the win, Ginebra now awaits the winner in the best-of-three series between NLEX and Meralco.
Very much familiar how dangerous Magnolia could get especially in a dire situation where it needs a win to keep their campaign alive, Ginebra showed no signs of complacency as the Kings looked to be always a step ahead of the Hotshots right from the get go.
Standhardinger set the tone with 17 first half points, powering his team a double-digit advantage in the first two frames and ballooned to as high as 26 points in the second half.
Ginebra was also extra sharp on the defensive end, limiting Ian Sangalang to just eight points and two rebounds after averaging 18.7 points and 7.2 rebounds in the eliminations.
With the Hotshots leading scorer firing blanks, Mark Barroca was left to carry the fight alone, finishing with 19 points, eight assists and six rebounds.
