Tony Bishop of Barangay Ginebra powers his way to the basket against two NorthPort defenders. PBA photo
Kings rising
THE race for the Top 4 berth and the twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinal round is now down to only five teams.
NorthPort Batang Pier became the latest team to bow out of the race,
Tony Bishop came throuh with a double double of 26 points and 16 rebounds as defending champion Barangay Ginebra defeated NorthPort, 103-93, in the PBA Commissioner;s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last Sunday.
Bishop teamed-up with Jamie Malonzo, Christian Standhardinger and Japeth Aguilar, as the Kings stayed in a tie with sister team San Miguel Beer at fourth place at 7-3 and relegated the Batang Pier to a 6-5 record in the elims.
Malonzo added 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists, Standhardinger contributed 16 points, sevebn rebounds and five assits and Aguilar had 15 points, four reboubnds, four assists and three blocks for Ginebra.
Also doing well for Ginebra were Maverick Ahanamisi with 13 pointsm six assists and five rebounds; Stanley Pringle with 10 points and three assists and Scottie Thompson with seven points, seven rebounds and 10 assists for the Tim Cone-mentored Gin Kings.
Arvin Tolentino carried the fight for the Batang Pier with 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting in 35 minutes, while import Venka Jois wound up with 21 points and 17 rebounds.
But it will still be a mad scramble to the finish with only Magnolia Chicken Timplados assured of a spot in the Top 4 with a league-best 9-2 win-loss record.
Phoenix Super LPG (7-2), Meralco (7-2), San Miguel Beer (6-4) and Ginebra (6-3) are still in the hunt for the remaining three Top Four 4 seat.
The Fuel Masters and the Bolts clash in a virtual playoff duel on Wednesday also at the Smart Aranerta Colisuem with the winner finally claiming a twice-to-beat bonus.
Ginebra and San Miguel, on the other hand, will close out their elimination round campaigns against NLEX ( 3-6) and Blackwater (1-9), respectively. They need to win those matches for a shot at the Top 4.
Earlier, import Bennie Boatwright exploded for 51 points and San Miguel Beer cruised to a convincing 132-110 victory over Terrafirma Dyip,
Boatwright, who took the place of Ivan Aska, had a monster performance with 19-of-31 shooting from the field while adding 12 rebounds in 40 minutes of action in only his second game for the Beermen.
The 6-10 standout of the University of Southern California Trojans scored 23 points in the first quarter alone to lead the Beermen, who have now won four straight games for a 7-3 win-loss record.
He added another 11 points in the second quarter.
The scores:
Ginebra (103) – Bishop 26, Malonzo 16, Standhardinger 16, J.Aguilar 15, Ahanmisi 13, Pringle 10, Thompson 7, Tenorio 0, Pinto 0, Onwubere 0, Cu 0, Gumaru 0.
NorthPort (93) — Tolentino 27, Jois 21, Zamar 11, Calma 10, Yu 8, Munzon 6, Chan 5, Paraiso 5, Flores 0, Rosales 0, Amores 0, Adamos 0.
Quarterfscores: 24-26, 50-50, 77-72, 103-93
