Barangay Ginebra leaned on a huge fourth quarter rally to shake off a pesky NorthPort side, 103-93, to stay in the race for the quarterfinals bonus in the 2023-24 PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, Jan. 7.

Tony Bishop and Japeth Aguilar led a back-breaking 12-0 spurt in the final frame for the Kings to create the much-needed separation before keeping the Batang Pier at bay in the waning minutes to improve their record to 7-3.

Ginebra extended its winning run to three straight wins but, more importantly, remained in the hunt for the twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals which will be given to the Top 4 teams at the end of the elimination.

So far, Magnolia is the only team assured of the incentive while the last three spots are still up for grabs between four teams including Ginebra. 

With the win, the Kings are tied with the San Miguel Beermen at the fourth to fifth spots with similar records while just half game ahead of them are the Phoenix Fuel Masters and Meralco Bolts with both boasting 7-2 slates.

Bishop led the way for the Kings on both ends of the floor with 26 points, 16 rebounds and five steals while Jamie Malonzo and Christian Standhardinger had 16 apiece. 

Aguilar chipped in 15 while Maverick Ahanmisi finished 13 – none more timely than his last eight points in the final frame including the booming triple that capped the telling run.

With the Batang Pier hanging tough, 79-84 early in the final frame, the Kings unloaded the telling to establish a double-digit spread, 96-79. NorthPort never recovered from there even with the combined effort of Arvin Tolentino and import Venky Jois.

Tolentino put up a game-high 27 points built on four triples while Jois chipped in 21 points and seven rebounds as NorthPort closed out the elimination with a 6-5 record.