PBA: Jamie Malonzo 'moves forward' amid 'tough' times

Jamie Malonzo registered a career-high 32 points as Barangay Ginebra San Miguel beat the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 113-107, on Friday in the PBA Philippine Cup.

Malonzo, however, credited his teammates for checking on him as the past few days have been 'tough' for him.

"It's definitely been tough. It's been a lot for me. Just credit to my team, they've been holding me down, checking on me. Throughout that whole process, they have my back so I got to give credit to my team," Malonzo said in a post-game conference.

"It's been tough, going through a lot, [it] hasn't been easy. It's difficult to cancel out all the noise and go out there and perform and focus on the game. I was happy to do what I did tonight and move forward," he added without saying any other details.

Malonzo, according to Barangay Ginebra and Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone, was 'down and out' during Gilas Pilipinas' game against Chinese Taipei in the first window of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers last February 25. 

Reports previously said Malonzo was allegedly involved in a fight.

For Cone, Malonzo found solace with his teammates in practice.

"If I may say, he found a sanctuary in practice and games. He's back to his comfort zone with his teammates. That's the key issue for him and it showed tonight in his game and he can put everything behind and just move forward," Cone said.

"We're proud of Jamie and what he did tonight and how he did and how he came back to practice and how he let his game do the talking."

Meanwhile, Barangay Ginebra also missed the services of Scottie Thompson who has been experiencing "back issues."

—JKC, GMA Integrated News