MANILA — Scottie Thompson made sure that Ginebra fans will have a Merry Christmas as he led his team to an 86-78 dumping of TNT Tropang Giga in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

The former PBA Most Valuable Valuable Player drained the most important buckets in the clutch to propel Barangay Ginebra San Miguel to a quarterfinal berth in the tourney and improve to 6-3.

Thompson showed his all-around prowess with 12 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists, while Christian Standhardinger delivered 22 markers on nine field goals inside the rainbow country.

"Maganda 'yung naging defense namin down the stretch, luckily I made the shots," the humble Thompson said as he credited their resistance to TNT's offense which, according to him, paved the way for the victory.

He also gave a shout-out to his family in the postgame conference as he dedicated the Christmas achievement to them.

Calvin Oftana, meanwhile, paced TNT with a game-high 27 points and five rebounds, but it was not enough as they fell short in the match, especially in the fourth quarter.

It was LA Tenorio who first gave the Gin Kings the lead, 75-74, with 4:20 remaining in the payoff period. Standhardinger followed it through from a Thompson assist 25 seconds later.

TNT went empty on their possession despite securing an offensive rebound, and then Thompson went on to an 8-0 personal run on back-to-back treys in the dying moments of the match, 85-76.

Maverick Ahanmisi finally sank the last free throw to deliver the match to the Ginebra fans, also after Oftana turned the ball over with nine seconds left.

The Scores:

GINEBRA 86 – Standhardinger 22, Bishop 15, Thompson 12, J. Aguilar 11, Ahanmisi 11, Malonzo 7, Pringle 6, Tenorio 2, David 0, Onwubere 0

TNT 78 – Oftana 27, Ponferrada 14, Khobuntin 13, K.Williams 7, Aurin 6, Montalbo 5, Galinato 4, Ganuelas-Rosser 2, Cruz 0, Tolomia 0, Reyes 0

QUARTER SCORES: 13-21, 37-37, 59-65, 86-78