Stanley Pringle carried the scoring cudgels for the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings as they took a 92-88 Game 1 win over the Meralco Bolts in the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals on Friday night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The former top-overall pick finished with 22 points, including three outside conversions, to go with six rebounds, two assists, and a block to be named Player of the Game for the Gin Kings.
With the Bolts threatening at 73-78 in the fourth quarter, Pringle stepped up for the Gin Kings with a three-pointer and a layup to stretch the lead to 83-73 with still three minutes in the game.
Meralco tried to rally back several times, including at 86-90 after two free throws by Chris Newsome, but Pringle responded for Ginebra with a floater for a 92-86 edge with under a minute left.
Ralph Cu chipped in 18 points, built on six three-point connections; Japeth Aguilar contributed 17 points; and Maverick Ahanmisi and Christian Standhardinger tallied 15 and 14, respectively, for the Gin Kings.
“The bottom line is… It’s game 1. It’s a long series. It has a lot of games. It is always nice to get the first one, so we put the other team on a reactive basis,” said Gin Kings head coach Tim Cone.
“This is a familiar team, but there are a lot of different players; their guards are very quick, so we are having a hard time defending them in stretches,” added the winningest PBA mentor.
Newsome tallied 21 points, 13 rebounds, and five assists; Chris Banchero added 15 markers; and Allein Maliksi, Kier John Quinto, and Clifford Hodge had 13, 11, and 10 points, respectively, for the Bolts.
The post Stanley Pringle shines as Ginebra takes Game 1 win over Meralco first appeared on Fastbreak.
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