Barangay Ginebra is a step away from a PBA Philippine Cup Last Dance with titleholder San Miguel Beer.
Christian Standhardinger was deadly in his sweet spots and connected even from afar in another monstrous double-double outing as the Gin Kings took Game 5, 89-84, and the pivotal 3-2 lead versus the Meralco Bolts in their best-of-seven semifinal showdown.
In a cold Sunday night, Maverick Ahanmisi, Japeth Aguilar and Scottie Thompson had their own hot moments, helping Ginebra move within a win of a ninth all-Filipino finals stint.
A win in Game 6 Wednesday at the Big Dome 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 the 2-1 edge in their previous titular face-offs in the league's premier tourney.
Standhardinger erupted for 34 points on top of 10 rebounds and five assists against three turnovers. He banged away crucial shots from 10 feet away in helping the Kings complete a steal in a game where they trailed by as many as 15 in the third.
Sponsored content: Ginebra coach Tim Cone deflected the credit to Standhardinger and his teammates for their tough, tough stand to beat the Bolts in a grind-out battle.
The Kings played catch-up basketball for the most part until they seized the lead at 80-79 on a Standhardinger 10-footer with 6:10 left.
From there, Aguilar and Thompson joined the prey as the Kings outfought the Bolts in the crunch, scoring a follow-up to their 90-71 win Friday and thus gaining a virtual twice-to-beat edge going to the next game.
"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," added Cone.
Sponsored content: Aguilar also got away with double-double numbers with 10 points and 12 rebounds while Thompson was limited to eight rebounds, five points and four assists but fired a big trey that gave them an 87-82 lead in the homestretch.
Ahanmisi had his significant help early on as the Fil-Am guard tallied 13 markers, five boards and four dish-offs.
The Bolts dominated the first three quarters with Chris Banchero, Chris Newsome, Allein Maliksi and Cliff Hodge showing the way.
Banchero scattered 16 in the first half with four three-pointers but was held down to just two in the final half.
The rest of coach Luigi Trillo's chargers were neutralized at winning time.(SB)
