BARANGAY Ginebra is one win away from a highly-awaited PBA Philippine Cup title showdown against San Miguel Beer.

Fil-German Christian Standhardinger finished with another monster double-double game as Ginebra defeated Meralco, 89-84, to take a pivotal 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven semifinal showdown. at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Standhardinger had 34 points on 12-of-17 shooting, 10 rebounds and five assists for the Kings, who rallied from as much as 15-point deficit in the third quarter for their second straight win after dropping to 1-2 in the series.

Japeth Aguilar added double-double numbers with 10 points and 12 rebounds, Socttie Thompson contributed eight rebounds, five points and four assists, and Maverick Ahanmisi contributed 13 points, five rebounds and four assists for thevTIm Cone-mentored Kings.

“The guys really kept their heads, moved forward and moved on and just found a way to grind out two wins,” said Cone.

“It took us a bit to really get into battle mode. We weren’t really reaching deep and battling it out. Then all of a sudden, it started to click. The leaders — Christian, LA, Scottie (Thompson) — really started to step up and the energy started to lift,” he added.

A win by the Kings in Game 6 on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum or in Game 7, if necessary, in San Jose, Batangas will pit the Kings and the Beermen in a fourth clash in Philippine Cup finals.

San Miguel enjoys a 2-1 edge over Ginebra.

The scores:

Ginebra (89) — Standhardinger 34, Ahanmisi 13, J.Aguilar 10, Pringle 9, Tenorio 7, Pinto 5, Cu 5, Thompson 5, Pessumal 1, Onwubere 0, Murrell 0.
Meralco (84) — Banchero 18, Newsome 17, Hodge 14, Maliksi 13, Caram 8, Quinto 7, Almazan 4, Bates 3, Pascual 0, Torres 0, Dario 0.
Quarterscores: 22-19, 40-44, 67-69, 89-84.

Game Wednesday:

(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
7:30 p.m. — Ginebra vs. Meralco

Results:

Game 1 — Ginebra 92, Meralco 88.
Game 2 — Meralco 103, Ginebra 91.
Game 3 — Meralco 87, Ginebra 80.
Game 4 — Ginebra 90, Meralco 71
Game 5 — Ginebra 89, Meralco 84
(Ginebra leads semifinal series, 3-2)