PBA

Heroes aplenty for Barangay Ginebra as C-Stan, Aguilar, Tenorio take charge in win over Rain or Shine

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel flashed championship poise to turn back a pesky Rain or Shine camp, 83-77, and notch its third win in the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup on Wednesday in Bacolor, Pampanga.

Christian Standhardinger led the way for the reigning All-Filipino titleholders after the Filipino-German bruiser registered 16 points on 8-for-14 shooting to go with six rebounds and five assists.

Japeth Aguilar added 15 while veteran LA Tenorio chipped in 15 markers and five dimes as Ginebra improved to 3-3 card.

The Elasto Painters, who dropped to 4-4, got heavy lift from the duo of Rey Nambatac and Anton Asistio who had 18 and 14 markers respectively.

"We did what we wanted to do tonight. We let our defense do the talking for us tonight," multi-titled Ginebra head coach Tim Cone said in the post-game interview.

"Christian (Standhardinger) is getting better as we expected... and we just keep telling Christian to be patient."

After the first three quarters saw both teams exchanging lead after lead, Ginebra got its act together in the final period. Tenorio opened the fourth quarter with a triple that sparked the run for his squad, 60-50.

But Rain or Shine quickly responded with a 10-2 blitz highlighted by a three-pointer from Asistio as the Elasto Painters closed the gap, 62-60.

Back-to-back triples from Norbert Torres and Nambatac kept the game close at 73-72. But Ginebra made another run as Standhardinger spun for a layup followed by an off-balanced jumper from Tenorio.

With barely a minute left in the game, Tenorio found an open Scottie Thompson, who drained a crucial bucket from the rainbow country, 82-74. Nambatac shot three charities but a turnover from Asistio proved costly for Rain or Shine, giving the win away to Ginebra.

Thompson said their previous loss to Terrafirma served as a wake-up call for them in tonight's game, especially that the league is now halfway through the elimination round.

"We realized that we should really play better, especially now that the conference is a fast-paced tournament," said the former NCAA standout.

Ginebra will look to continue grabbing wins when it meets the San Miguel Beermen on September 10, Friday, while Rain or Shine will look to bounce back on Friday as well against the Magnolia Hotshots.

Box scores:

Barangay Ginebra (83) — Standhardinger 16, Aguilar 15, Tenorio 15, Thompson 14, Caperal 11, Pringle 10, Mariano 2

Rain or Shine (77) — Nambatac 18, Asistio 14, Belga 12, Torres 10, Mocon 9, Yap 5, Borboran 4, Caracut 3, Wong 2

Quarter scores: 21-23, 35-35, 57-50, 83-77

—MGP, GMA News