MANILA, Philippines — The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel hardly felt Christian Standhardinger's absence as he was ejected early in Game Four of the PBA Commissioner's Cup semifinals against the Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots as the Gin Kings cruised, 99-84, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City on Wednesday.
Punching the first ticket to the finals, Ginebra pounced on a struggling Magnolia side whose import Nick Rakocevic played through an illness, even as Standhardinger missed most of the game.
Halfway through the first quarter, Standhardinger was thrown out after tapping the ball in Rakocevic's direction, hitting the Serbian on the back. Throwing the ball at an opponent has always been called as a disqualifying foul in the PBA.
Ginebra went on a 14-3 run shortly after Standhardinger's exit, punctuated by a Scottie Thompson triple to take a double-digit lead, 29-18, at the end of the first canto.
LA Tenorio led the run that eventually shifted the momentum permanently to the Gin Kings' side.
Ginebra continued to wax hot on offense as they ballooned their advantage to as big as 24 points, 73-49, with 4:59 left in the third quarter after a Japeth Aguilar layup.
Though Magnolia threatened to come back as they halved the deficit to 12, 82-70, after Rakocevic free throws with 11:08 left in the ball game, Ginebra were able to roar back on offense to deny their efforts.
Ginebra import Justin Brownlee dazzled with 24 points, 14 boards, six assists, two steals, and five blocks to pace the Gin Kings who now await the winner of the other semifinals matchup between the San Miguel Beermen and the Bay Area Dragons.
Tenorio scattered 18 markers built on four triples along with five rebounds, five assists, and two steals. Thompson, for his part, chipped in 14 points as well.
Aguilar provided quality minutes in Standhardinger's absence with 19 points, eight boards, three assists, and two steals off of the bench.
Calvin Abueva topscored for Magnolia with 14 markers. Rakocevic, meanwhile, still finished with a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds but the Serbian shot a sorry 3-of-13 from the field in the losing effort.