The champion Gin Kings secure their playoff bonus, while NLEX puts its fate on the TNT-Phoenix game.
Brgy. Ginebra San Miguel clamped down on defense in the fourth period and Stanley Pringle turned it up on offense as the Gin Kings hacked out a 103-99 win over the NLEX Road Warriors in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Saturday in Legazpi City.
Pringle dropped nine of his 13 points in the final frame, including the pair of freebies that sealed their eighth win in 11 games.
More importantly, Ginebra secured the twice-to-beat edge in the quarterfinals.
While Pringle was the team's fourth-quarter engine, it was Tony Bishop who topscored for the Gin Kings. Reportedly nursing a pain in his knee, the Ginebra reinforcement fired 27 points to go with 13 rebounds, four assists, a steal, and two blocks. He also hit a big three with 1:07 left to push the champs ahead, 101-97.
Christian Standhardinger chimed in 18 points, eight rebounds, and six assists, while Jamie Malonzo had 16 for Ginebra.
Both teams traded baskets in the final minutes, with Anthony Semerad hitting a left corner triple that trimmed a four-point gap, 98-97. Bishop then responded with the aforementioned clutch three, which was off a broken play, before Robert Bolick dished it out to DeAndre Williams-Baldwin for a two-handed flush to make it 101-99 with 11.3 ticks to go.
But Pringle would go on to ice the win, as Bolick’s last-ditch attempt from the three-point line hit nothing but air.
Despite the loss, the Road Warriors (4-7) still have a chance to punch a playoff ticket. NLEX will have to hope sister team TNT Tropang Giga will lose to Phoenix on the final day of eliminations.
A TNT loss will pit the Tropang Giga and the Road Warriors in a playoff for the No. 8 spot.
Williams-Baldwin paced NLEX with a double-double outing of 27 points and 14 boards. He also had five assists and three blocks in over 46 minutes of play.