The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel has advanced to the semi-finals round after beating the Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok, 106-80.
The Gin Kings used the third quarter for them to switch to a higher gear which resulted to a large separation against their “Manila Classico” rival, the Hotshots.
A 40-21 spurt unleashed by Barangay Ginebra to pin down their opponent. They were fluid in their ball movement where they registered 13 assists in that quarter alone.
Though Magnolia shoots 47% from the field in that opening quarter of the second half, Ginebra had their dominating 81% to counter that.
Justin Brownlee who was slowed down in their Game 1 head-to-head clash made a bounce back as he found a way to beat his defender.
Brownlee delivered 30 points, nine rebounds, and six assists. He was later named as the Best Player of the Game.
One of the sparks for coach Tim Cone squad is none other than the “Spark” himself, Mark Caguioa.
In just close to 14 minutes of basketball action, Caguioa registered 12 points and four rebounds. He was also perfect from the field with his 5-of-5 field-goal performance.
Magnolia had shown their competitiveness early in the game where they orchestrated an 11-4 start. Yet, Ginebra was resilient until they claim the lead at the end of the first buzzer.
In the second quarter, it was almost the same story for both squads as the score swings back-and-forth until that third quarter scenario that changes and dictated the pace of Game 2 of their best-of-three quarterfinals series.
Hotshots’ import Rakeem Christmas logged 15 points and eight rebounds and was remains win-less in his stint in the PBA.
Most probably the Hotshots coaching staff is expecting him to be more dominant in both scoring and rebounding but it seems that his one year of not playing competitive basketball is a big factor why he failed to deliver.
With the victory, Barangay Ginebra will wait for the winner of the TNT KaTropa vs Alaska Aces series.
Mark “The Spark” Caguioa With A Buzzer Beater
Ginebra vs Magnolia Game 2 Quarterfinals Box Score
Quarters: 24-23 | 47-39 | 87-60 | 106-80
Gin Kings (106) – Brownlee 30, J. Aguilar 18, Tenorio 13, Caguioa 12, Pringle 11, Thompson 9, Devance 4, Slaughter 4, Teodoro 3, Mariano 2, Caperal 0, R. Aguilar 0
Hotshots (80) – Barroca 17, Christmas 15, Sangalang 12, Jalalon 8, Reavis 8, Lee 5, Herndon 5, Dela Rosa 3, Abundo 3, Simon 2, Gamalinda 0, Ramos 0, Melton 0, Pascual 0