Malonzo carries Ginebra past NorthPort in PBA
Jamie Malonzo was a bane to his former team NorthPort Batang Pier as he carried Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings to a 122105 victory in the 2022 PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Sunday night, November 27, at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
From a tightly-contested game until early in the fourth quarter, Malonzo scored from inside and drilled a three-pointer as he connived with Jeremiah Gray and Christian Standhardinger to turn a 94-all score to a 106-96 Ginebra lead.
The Batang Pier cut the deficit to seven twice, but another triple by Malonzo, six straight points from Justin Brownlee and back-to-back inside hits by Malonzo and Standhardinger gave the Gin Kings its largest lead at 122-103.
Malonzo, who was traded by the Batang Pier to the Gin Kings prior to the start of the midseason conference, tallied 26 points, with 10 coming in the fourth quarter, to go with five blocks, three rebounds and two assists.
Brownlee flirted with a triple-double with 31 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists, Standhardinger had 20 points, 17 rebounds and seven assists, while Gray contributed 12 as the Gin Kings moved up to an 8-3 slate.
Arvin Tolentino tallied 24 points, including six triples, Prince Ibeh had 23 points and 13 rebounds, while Robert Bolick, Jr., William Navarro and Negrense Jeffrei Chan had 23, 11 and 10 markers, respectively, as the Batang Pier slumped to 6-6.
In the first game, Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots turned things around in the third quarter as they held off Meralco Bolts, 108-96. The Hotshots stayed in second place with 9-2, while the
Bolts dropped to 4-6.
Down 46-51 at the half, the Hotshots went on a huge rampage in the third quarter behind Calvin Abueva, Nicholas Rakocevic, Paul Lee, and Andy Mark Barroca as they outscored the Bolts, 47-23, for a 93-74 lead.
Magnolia went on to build its largest lead at 9776 on an Ian Sangalang hit, but Meralco made its last push late in the contest but managed only to come to as close as 10 points with less than a minute left.
Lee top-scored for the Hotshots with 27 points, including five triples. Abueva added 17 markers,
Rakocevic had doubledouble 16 points and 20 rebounds, Jiovani Jalalon had 12, while Barroca and Sangalang ended with 11 apiece.
— Brownlee 31, Malonzo 26, Standhardinger 20, Gray 12, Thompson 8, J. Aguilar
GINEBRA 122
7, Pringle 7, Mariano 6, Tenorio 3, Pinto 2, R. Aguilar 0, David 0.
NORTHPORT 105 — Tolentino 24, Ibeh 23, Bolick 22, Navarro 11, Chan 10, Ferrer 8, Balanza 4, Taha 3, Caperal 0, Sumang 0.
Quarterscores: 27-34, 6363, 93-92, 122-105./ASC, WDJ