Jamie Malonzo drained the backbreaker from the three-point area in Barangay Ginebra’s spirited fourth quarter rally to upend Magnolia, 85-81, in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Kings charged back from 10 points down early in the payoff period to stun the Hotshots and improve to a 6-3 win-loss record as they kept their quarterfinals twice-to-beat incentive hopes alive.

Japeth Aguilar posted a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds while Troy Rosario and Stephen Holt added 15 and 14 markers, respectively, for Ginebra.

Malonzo finished with 11 points, including nine in the fourth canto, capped by a booming trey in the last 1:22 that gave the Kings a safe 85-79 lead.

Rookie RJ Abarrientos got 10 points and six assist for Ginebra, which pulled itself together following a sorry loss to defending champion Meralco last Friday.

“It was a huge statement game for us,” Kings coach Tim Cone said.

“This keeps us firmly in the run for the Top 4. It still allows us to control our own destiny. We ran into a really good Meralco team the last time out and we knew we’re gonna get much the same in Magnolia but this time I thought we put up a better fight. We persevered through the adversity and just overall showed a lot of grit tonight,” added the mentor, who got ejected in the closing minutes of Ginebra’s previous setback.

The Hotshots went up, 71-61, after debuting newly acquired forward William Navarro drilled a trey with 11:25 in the fourth. Ginebra then sparked a 13-2 run to get on top, 74-73, on a pair of Abarrientos free throws.

A 9-2 spurt iced by Malonzo’s triple gave the Kings enough separation to bag the victory.

The Hotshots fell to their second loss in nine outings for a tie with NLEX.

Sangalang and Lucero had 16 points each for Magnolia while Navarro scored five in his first game with his new team after getting traded by NorthPort last Tuesday.     

The scores:

GINEBRA (85) --- J.Aguilar 17, Rosario 15, Holt 14, Malonzo 11, Abarrientos 10, Thompson 5, David 5, Pinto 4, Adamos 4, Gray 0

MAGNOLIA (81) --- Sangalang 16, Lucero 16, Barroca 9, Laput 9, Lastimosa 8, Lee 6, Navarro 5, Dela Rosa 5, Alfaro 4, Dionisio 3

Quarters: 22-24, 44-39, 59-68, 85-81