At the Smart-Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, Barangay Ginebra easily defeated NorthPort 127-100 to move one step closer to a finals appearance in the PBA 49th Season Commissioner’s Cup.

The Gin Kings were unbeatable, and the Batang Pier looked in over their heads, as they were just one victory away from a 4-0 sweep at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, just like in the first two games of the best-of-seven series.

First-seeded Batang Pier needs to duplicate San Miguel’s ‘Beeracle’ from 2015 to win this series. This is a difficult assignment for a team that lost all three games by an average margin of 20.3 points and fell behind by as much as 38 points in Game 3.

San Miguel was the only team to overcome such a 0–3 deficit, which defeated Alaska in the 2015–16 Philippine Cup Finals.

Jamie Malonzo scored 25 points and pulled down eight rebounds for the fourth-seeded Gin Kings, his best performance since returning from a protracted absence due to a calf ailment. 

When Malonzo scored an alley-oop dunk on a pass from RJ Abarrientos in the fourth quarter of the lopsided game, fans had something to celebrate.

“Our first group is coming out and playing well, but our second group, led by Jamie and RJ, are just playing great. They’ve been able to extend leads and break the back of the other team. That’s a luxury to have,” Ginebra Coach Tim Cone said.

The Gin Kings, who led 64-40 at the half and once again had the luxury of deploying their second and third stringers, had 22 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists from Justin Brownlee and 17 points from Japeth Aguilar.

The top-seeded NorthPort squad lost 34-19 in the second quarter, with Kadeem Jack scoring 32 points and Arvin Tolentino scoring 15 points on 5 of 14 field goals.

The Scores

Barangay Ginebra 127 – Malonzo 25, Brownlee 22, J. Aguilar 17, Thompson 15, Abarrientos 10, Rosario 10, Ahanmisi 6, Holt 5, Pessumal 4, Gray 4, R. Aguilar 3, Adamos 2, Mariano 2, Tenorio 2, Cu 0, Pinto 0.

Northport 100 – Jack 32, Tolentino 15, Taha 11, Yu 6, Miranda 6, Bulanadi 6, Munzon 5, Cuntapay 5, Flores 4, Nelle 3, Navarro 3, Tratter 2, Onwubere 2.

Quarter scores: 30-21; 64-40; 99-68; 127-100.

Glenn Khobuntin quickly dismissed his verbal argument with Poy Erram, a teammate on TNT, as a mere emotional outburst between two players who both have a strong desire to win.

The incident that spoiled the Tropang Gigas’ 103-98 loss to the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters on Sunday night in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, according to the 33-year-old forward, is over.

With 18 seconds remaining before the half and TNT losing 41-48, Khobuntin claimed that tension was just running high at the time Erram was called for a technical foul for excessive protesting.

“High emotions, e. Una ang pangit ng laro namin. Pero friendly fire lang naman yun. Sobrang tagal ko nang kilala si Poy,” said the product of National University following the loss that cut TNT’s lead at 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

Erram reportedly complained that he was being restrained by a Rain or Shine defender, which prevented him from handling Rey Nambatac’s pass. Losing his temper, the seasoned big man complained to the referees and was given a technical foul.

Erram persisted in yelling at the referees, so Khobuntin and Sandy Arespacochaga, the TNT deputy coach, intervened to attempt to calm him down.

But Khobuntin’s words weren’t well received by the TNT center, who shoved his teammate twice to start the violent argument.

In order to keep things from getting worse, import Rondae Hollis Jefferson and Roger Pogoy, then drew Erram away from the team bench.

“Sabi ko lang naman baka mag-two technical fouls pa siya, e sobrang importante niya kanina. So yun lang yun,” said Khobuntin. However, he acknowledged that Erram’s action surprised him.

Erram and Khobuntin, who grew up in Mindanao, have a strong friendship, particularly after joining TNT as colleagues. Together with Pogoy, Nambatac, Calvin Oftana, Brian Heruela, and team manager Jojo Lastimosa, they actually comprise the “Bisaya” group at TNT.

Khobuntin understood Erram’s perspective.

However, Khobuntin and Erram were spotted cuddling on the sidelines before the half was done, having already smoked the peace pipe.

Khobuntin finished with two points and five rebounds, while Erram finished with 10 points (3-of-4) from the field, four rebounds, and two assists as the Tropang Giga suffered their first loss in the semi-final series.

Erram respectfully asked not to discuss the incident.