It was a welcome win and a critical one at that. The defending champion Barangay Ginebra was able to squash a win on the match with stunned Blackwater finishing off with an impressive score of 119-93. This win came after a two-game miss in the Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup last Sunday, December 19, 2023.
The inevitable outcome of the match started off with the fiery Christian Standhardinger leading the way for the Kings with 21 points just only in the first half of the match. This very early breakaway was a portentous indication that the Kings will be ruling the match from start to finish. The score as of halftime was pegged at 62-44 showing a very comfortable lead.
Standhardinger, of Fil-German ethnicity, capped off the game finishing with 27 points, six rebounds, and five assists as Ginebra improved to 4-2 (win-loss).
Blackwater’s Shawn Glover was unable to make a big enough dent to get the team out of hot water. Turning around Blackwater’s fortune was too immense of a task, especially against the Kings who have to recover from the previous two-game loss. This match counts as the sixth straight loss for Blackwater with a 1-7 slate.
The Kings coach, Tim Cone, digressed “I don’t think we did anything special, I just think we just came out and played our game. We’re just making sure we’re beating the teams that were supposed to beat.” This a very subtle hint of what he knew he can expect from the team with the match from Blackwater.
Team stats in greater detail
The other players like sophomore Jamie Malonzo contributed 25 points and import Justin Brownlee had a quiet double-double of 22 points and 10 rebounds for Ginebra, which led by as many as 93-65 late in the third period.
Glover may still be figuring things out as he came in to replace Troy William. But the odds do look daunting and he couldn’t smash things up to have the Bossing get to a better place. He was only able to deliver a 6-of-19 shooting and finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Meanwhile, rookie Ato Ular, big man Yousef Taha, and Baser Amer each had 12 points to lead the locals for the Bossing.
The final verdict on how the teams fared per player:
Ginebra (119) -- Standhardinger 27, Malonzo 25, Brownlee 22, Thompson 11, Gray 8, Tenorio 6, Pringle 6, Pinto 5, Pessumal 5, Mariano 2, R.Aguilar 0, David 0, Onwubere 0.
Blackwater (93) -- Glover 14, Ular 12, Amer 12, Taha 12, Ilagan 11, McCarthy 9, DiGregorio 9, Escoto 4, Toralba 2, Banal 2 Casio 2, Sena 2, Hill 2.
Quarterscores: 37-20; 62-44; 96-74; 119-93.
Absolutely delighted that the Kings were able to make it through. Although curious as to why Blackwater seems to be in, well, deep water and they should try to resurface as soon as possible before things go awry further. Would you like us to go into a deep dive per the PBA team and feature their profiles? Just let us know in the comment box below. We’ll have it on our pages for you. Cheers!
