Pringle goes perfect from deep as Gin Kings rip Tropang Giga in Game 3

Game Sunday (Smart Araneta Coliseum)

6 p.m. – TNT vs Ginebra
*Ginebra leads series, 2-1

MANILA, Philippines – With a barrage of long bombs from Stanley Pringle and the gang, Barangay Ginebra roared ahead of TNT in the PBA Governors’ Cup title series, 2-1.

Pringle, in a rare start, shot an impeccable 6-of-6 from beyond the arc to deliver a 22-point sizzler that boosted the Gin Kings to the 117-103 go-ahead win Friday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Riding on Pringle’s sniping, coach Tim Cone’s charges knocked down 18 of their 32 3-point attempts for a whopping 56.3% clip. The crowd darlings made five of them in the fourth period, where they broke away from an 88-88 standoff with a 29-15 finishing kick.

Justin Brownlee, making up for his meager 3-of-16 shooting and 12 points in their 95-82 loss in Game 2, produced 29 as he made 11 of his 19 attempts this time.

Jamie Malonzo soared for 27 markers spiked by a 6-of-9 3-point shooting plus 10 rebounds while Scottie Thompson and Christian Standhardinger each accounted for 16-10 in similarly strong outings.

“We shot the ball really well from different angles led by Stanley. He got us ahead and kept us in the game in the first half and he hit big shots in the second half,” said Cone.

“But overall, it was the other guys recognizing they have to pick it up for Justin, We just couldn’t go to Justin all the time. Other guys got to contribute and be aggressive in taking their shots. We did a good job executing. I thought that was lacking in the last game.”

Ginebra was also able to give Japeth Aguilar a “feel” of the action after a long inactivity due to MCL. Aguilar finished with two points and one rebound in four minutes and 51 seconds of action.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson paced TNT with 31 and 10 as Mikey Williams shot 19 spiked by five 3s.

The first half of Game 3 was a tale of contrasts.

Ginebra pummeled TNT with five treys led by Pringle’s perfect 3-of-3 in the first and went up by as many as 13 at 27-14 before settling for a 29-19 cushion.

The Tropang Giga, sparked by Williams’ 4-of-4 shotmaking from downtown, turned things around with a 38-28 exchange in the second period to make it an even contest heading to the break, 57-57.

Notes: Magnolia and Converge shook hands for an early off-season trade yesterday. The Hotshots acquired the FiberXers’ big man Abu Tratter and slam dunk champion David Murrell, In return, Converge received PBA All Stars RSJ MVP Adrian Wong and Magnolia’s first-round pick in the Season 48 Rookie Draft.

The scores:

GINEBRA 117 – Brownlee 29, Malonzo 27, Pringle 22, Thompson 16, Standhardinger 16, Gray 5, J.Aguilar 2, Mariano 0, Pinto 0, Onwubere 0

TNT 103 – Hollis-Jefferson 32, M.Williams 19, Erram 14, Castro 14, Pogoy 13, Khobuntin 6, Oftana 3, Tungcab 2, Marcelo 0, Montalbo 0

Quarterscores: 29-19, 57-57, 87-81, 117-103.