THE Barangay Ginebra Kings roared on.
Picking up from their second-half explosion Wednesday, the Kings thundered to a two-zero lead versus the NorthPort Batang Pier in their PBA Commissioner's Cup best-of-seven semifinal dispute with a lopsided 119-106 win Friday at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig.
Justin Brownlee and his teammates followed up a masterclass performance in the final half in the series kickoff with an even better showing, leaving the Batang Pier in tatters as early as the second quarter.
For all intents and purposes, it's a won game at the turn for the Gin Kings, getting half of the job done in the race-to-four series with a follow-up to their 115-93 Game One triumph.
Coach Tim Cone's troops try to get to the hill, going for a 3-0 lead as the series shifts back to the Smart Araneta Coliseum for the next two games.
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"We felt we needed to come with a real disciplined approach to this game because there's a really good chance that we would step back and they would pick up their intensity. But our guys did a real good job staying disciplined," said Cone.
With a torrid shooting coupled by a lockdown effort on NorthPort import Kadeem Jack and local top gun Arvin Tolentino, the Kings smashed their rivals right in the get-go and built a lead as big as 65-35 before closing the first 24 minutes of play at 68-39.
The Kings left the Batang Pier behind quickly as they held Jack and Tolentino to a combined output of measly 10 points in the first half.
William Navarro and Allyn Bulanadi carried the load with 14 and 10, respectively, for the Batang Pier who were limited to 14 field goals made on 42 tries as against Ginebra's 24-of-43 clip.
Also highlighting Ginebra's early breakaway was bombardment from afar by Jamie Malonzo, Scottie Thompson, Maverick Ahanmisi, Jeremiah Gray and Brownlee. Malonzo, Thompson and Ahanmisi fired two treys apiece in the opening half.
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Japeth Aguilar struck hard from the perimeter and was a third King to put in double figures in the first half with 10. Malonzo had 14 and Thompson 10.
From an early deadlock, the Kings sprinted away and held several 30-point spreads before letting their reserves to play some minutes just like in Game One.
And as they seemed to just go through the motion, Jack pounded some opening, going 6-of-6 from the field in the fourth to finish with 27.
"I thought towards the end of the third and start and we got a little loose. I didn't plan on bringing Justin and Japeth back in but it's the playoffs - you can't mess around, you got to make sure your (main) guys are out there to get that win," said Cone of his move to bring back Brownlee and Aguilar towards the end.
But Brownlee played more like a facilitator to his red-hot teammates, and ended up with 10 points and 11 assists.
Aguilar sizzled with a season-high-equaling 31 points to go with eight rebounds. Malonzo (17), Thompson (16), Troy Rosario (11-8) and RJ Abarrientos (11-5-6) also did their part.(SB)
The Scores :
GINEBRA 119 - J.Aguilar 31, Malonzo 17, Thompson 16, Rosario 11, Abarrientos 11, Brownlee 10, Ahanmisi 8, Holt 7, Gray 6, Pinto 2, Pessumal 0, Cu 0, Adamos 0, R.Aguilar 0, Mariano 0.
NORTHPORT 106 - Jack 27, Navarro 23, Munzon 14, Tolentino 12, Bulanadi 10, Nelle 6, Yu 5, Miranda 5, Taha 3, Onwubere 1, Flores 0, Cuntapay 0.
QUARTERS: 35-22, 68-39, 93-67, 119-106
