MANILA, Philippines – The luxury Barangay Ginebra enjoys with Christian Standhardinger is he can always fill the void whenever Japeth Aguilar is out.

True enough, the Gin Kings seemed like they hardly felt the absence of the injured Aguilar, with Standhardinger playing a key role in their 104-94 win over NLEX in the PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals on Friday, March 25.

Standhardinger churned out a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds as Ginebra claimed a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

“Just trying to fulfill whatever role is best for the team to give us the biggest chance to win,” the Filipino-German big man said.

“I think we did a good job today, just sticking together and trying to somehow compensate for the loss, which is very hard to do because Japeth is an amazing player.”

But more than his numbers, Standhardinger made his presence felt on the other side of the floor by defending – and irritating – Road Warriors import Cameron Clark.

Clark put up 30 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 steals in their Game 1 loss, but managed to deliver only 15 points and 5 rebounds this time as he fouled out midway through the fourth quarter.

The NLEX reinforcement committed his last two fouls – an offensive and a personal – within seven minutes bridging the third and fourth quarters, both coming against Standhardinger.

“Im just trying to play as hard as possible. He is a good player. He has a great midrange shot, so it is very hard to defend against him,” Standhardinger said.

“We just tried our best as a team and I’m happy we were able to contain him a little bit.”

A two-time champion during his time with San Miguel, Standhardinger is just a win away from his first PBA finals appearance with the Gin Kings.

“I hope we can make it.” – Rappler.com