BARANGAY Ginebra made it.

The Gin Kings rallied from an 11-point deficit to roll back NLEX, 103-99, in an out-of-town game in Legazpi, Albay and clinch an outright Top Four berth in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.

Needing only a win to clinch an automatic Final Four berth and the twice-to-beat incentive that comes with it, the Kings went to Stanley Pringle for the insurance free throws to make it safely.

Pringle nailed pressure-packed free throws in the last five seconds, as the Kings escaped with the victory that guaranteed them of at least fourth spot in the elims.

Import Tony Bishop, Maverick Ahanmisi and Christian Standhardinger also came through with their own heroics as Ginebra closed out with an 8-3 win-loss record in a tie with San Miguel Beer and Meralco.

And with superior differential, the Beermen and the Gin Kings took the third and fourth spots and win-once bonus after tiebreak.

They also relegated the Bolts to No. 5 with a twice-to-win disadvantage in the Last-8.

With a closing 4-7 slate, the Road Warriors will kiss their bid goodbye with a win by the TNT Tropang Giga (4-6) over the Phoenix Fuel Masters.

A loss by TNT, however, will provide a new lease on life NLEX.

The two teams would end up tied at 4-7 and would need to go through a knockout game to settle their battle for the No. 8 spot in the quarterfinal.

Meanwhile, the PBA’s 3×3 tournament for women is up for relaunch.

Six teams, including two Gilas squads are taking part in the Invitational WPBA 3×3 set to kick off on Jan. 22.

The single-round eliminations will be played during game days of the men’s PBA 3×3 Season 3.

The scores:

Barangay Ginebra (103) – Bishop 27, Standhardinger 18, Malonzo 16, Ahanmisi 13, Pringle 13, J.Aguilar 6, Thompson 4, Pinto 3, Pessumal 3, Tenorio 0.
NLEX (99) – Williams-Baldwin 27, Valdez 17, Nermal 15, Semerad 14, Anthony 12, Bolick 8, Rodger 4, Miranda 0.
Quarterscores: 31-23, 53-54, 77-82, 103-99.