At A Glance
- Barangay Ginebra came out waxing hot in the third and cruised to an easy 126-99 victory over NorthPort in Game 5 of the PBA Season 49 Commissioner's Cup semifinals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, Friday, March 7.
Barangay Ginebra came out waxing hot in the third and cruised to an easy 126-99 victory over NorthPort in Game 5 of the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup semifinals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, Friday, March 7.
Failing to complete the last time out, the Kings would not be denied as they unloaded a fiery 27-5 run to turn a once competitive contest at the break into another blowout game and complete a gentleman sweep of the Batang Pier in the best-of-seven affair.
NorthPort was very much into the game after the first 20 minutes of action only trailing by nine, 53-62, at the break before Ginebra came out of the halftime like a different beast, erecting a massive 31-point lead, 89-58 – an advantage it never relinquished the rest of the way.
With the win, Ginebra has forged a finals rematch with TNT – the team that defeated it through six games in the last Governors’ Cup Finals.
RJ Abarrientos and Jamie Malonzo led the three-point barrage from Ginebra, combining for seven of the team’s 11 triples.
Abarrientos finished with 20 points to go with 10 assists while Malonzo also had the same scoring output to go with six rebounds.
Justin Brownlee also had a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds while three other Kings also reached double figures.
Japeth Aguilar had 18 points, Scottie Thompson with 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists and Troy Rosario with 11 before tweaking his right ankle in the third frame.