Ginebra rips Magnolia for crucial win

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Barangay Ginebra lit its fire back to life after scoring a crucial 104-84 victory over Magnolia in the 2018 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Gin Kings improved to a 3-5 record, overtaking Phoenix for the ninth spot in the standings and maintaining their quarterfinals aspirations while the Hotshots dropped to sixth with a 4-5 card.

Justin Brownlee was of pure magnificence in the second half for Ginebra lighting up the scoreboards for 23 points, in the third and fourth quarters alone, as he led the Gin Kings’ domination.

Ginebra already held a 79-66 lead at the start of the fourth quarter but Brownlee wasn’t done as he gave the Gin Kings an 88-70 lead at the 8:14 mark of the period after going on a personal 6-0 run.

“We played our best game of the conference, obviously,” said Ginebra head coach Tim Cone. “We’re feeling a lot better and we know what we want to do defensively. We were in a flux because we got two different imports, we had injuries, and we couldn’t get right or settled.”

Cone added that he is aware of the predicament his team is in and that every game including the duel with Magnolia  is of utmost importance for them.

“We have no margin of error, we have to find ways to win. If we find a way to win, we can get to the top six despite all the problems we had in the past.”

Brownlee finished with a game-high 35 points on top of eight rebounds and four assists while LA Tenorio added 22 points, six rebounds, and five assists.

Justin Jackson put up a 21-point, 15-rebound double-double to lead the Hotshots while Jio Jalalon added 17 points and seven boards.