Christian Standhardinger was a dominant force inside the paint, dropping 33 points as Barangay Ginebra vented all of its frustration on Blackwater, 105-86, in the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup at the PhilSports Arena on Friday, April 12.

The Kings unloaded a blistering 15-4 run in the opening frame which set the tone to the convincing win that not only removed the bitter taste of their upset loss to the Terrafirma Dyip but also ended the team’s two-game slide.

Ginebra was only up by three, 12-9, before Standhardinger presided over the telling run that allowed the Kings to seize a double-digit advantage and never looked back from there.

Standhardinger preyed on the smaller Bossing frontline and only needed three quarters to reach his conference-high that also came with six rebounds and five assists.

The biggest improvement for the Kings, however, was the fluidity of the team on the offensive end – something that was sorely missing in their last two games. 

The far better execution of Ginebra was largely due to the return of star guard Scottie Thompson who made immediate impact to his team with seven rebounds and eight assists although he was still getting his rhythm from the field with only four points to show.

Still, the impact of his return was greatly felt in the outputs of Maverick Ahanmisi and Ralph Cu who both chipped in 14 points while Jamie Malonzo contributed 11.

With the win, Ginebra closes in to a possible spot in the quarterfinals after hiking its record to 5-4 while Blackwater continues to free fall with its fourth straight loss after opening the conference with 3-0 slate.

The Bossing tried to fight back in the middle quarters but the Kings simply had answers in their every attempt to make a run.

Rookie James Kwekuteye paced Blackwater with 20 points while Justin Chua had his best game in Bossing uniform with 17 points and 10 rebounds but to no avail.