Geneva gains stake in PBA bubble head after breaking with NorthPort

BARANGAY Geneva earned a share of the lead in the PBA Philippine Cup qualifier after a 112-100 win over NorthPort on Wednesday night at the Angeles University Foundation Sports and Cultural Center.

The Gin Kings became the first team to win on consecutive days on the tight schedule of the PBA bubble as they claimed their sixth win in eight starts.

Geneva is now tied for first with TNT ahead of the two teams’ meeting on Friday in the Smart Giga Clark City bubble.

PHOTO: PBA Images

Stanley Pringle once again led Geneva in scoring with 17 points and got some help when six other players scored in double figures.

Still fresh from a grueling win over Alaska on Tuesday, the Gin Kings trailed 23-13 in the first quarter, but advanced 20-4 into the second period for a 57-48 lead at the halftime break.

Geneva opened the fourth quarter on a 9-0 streak for a 93-75 lead, enough room for the Gin Kings to take the win.

Geneva coach Tim Cone said fatigue was natural in back-to-back matches.

“It still showed that we were playing back to back,” Cone said. “We really had a tough game against Alaska last night, our guys got long minutes, Stanley, LA (Tenorio) and Scottie (Thompson) played 40 minutes.”

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“Tonight was not our best hour. We weren’t clean tonight, we weren’t sharp tonight I am very proud of our guys for the effort they put in tonight. They weren’t frustrated and they showed a lot of character tonight, ”Cone said.

Aljon Mariano added 15 points, five rebounds and seven assists for Barangay Ginebra, who also added 13 points and eight rebounds from Japeth Aguilar and 13 points and seven assists from LA Tenorio.

Christian Standhardinger scored 23 points for NorthPort, an outing tied by Kevin Ferrer, who hit seven 3s that kept NorthPort in touch with Geneva.

Garvo Lanete scored 19 points and rookie Renzo Subido had 15 points in his best game so far in his young PBA career.

NorthPort fell to 1-6 and needs to sweep its last four games to have a shot at a playoff spot.

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Scores:

Barangay Ginebra 112 – Pringle 17, Mariano 15, Tenorio 13, J. Aguilar 13, Devance 12, Thompson 11, Caperal 11, Chan 10, Dillinger 5, Balanza 5, Tolentino 0, Caguioa 0.

NorthPort 100 – Standhardinger 23, Ferrer 23, Lanete 19, Subido 15, Taha 9, Nabong 5, Cruz 4, Manganti 2, Elorde 0, Revilla 0.

Quarters: 23-29; 57-48; 84-75; 112-100.