MANILA – Jayson David had a solid showing in his return to active roster as Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings walloped NorthPort Batang Pier, 131-106, in the PBA Philippine Cup on Wednesday night at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
The former Lyceum of the Philippines Pirates guard finished with a career-high of 25 points, on 8-of-9 shooting, to go with nine rebounds, three assists, and two steals as the Gin Kings improved to a 2-1 win-loss slate.
“Ang mindset ko lang is maging ready lagi, nasa lineup man ako o hindi. Iniisip ko lang to be ready palagi baka kasi kailanganin ako ng team,” David said during his Player of the Game interview.
“Sa practice, didipensahan ko ‘yung mga kakampi ko para pagdating sa game ready sila,” added David, who was activated on Tuesday in lieu of veteran guard LA Tenorio, who will shift his focus on his Gilas Pilipinas Boys coaching stint.
Rhon Jay Abarrientos top-scored for the Gin Kings with 27 points, including six three-pointers, Stephen Holt added 17 markers, Japeth Aguilar and Jeth Troy Rosario contributed 10 apiece, and Jamie Malonzo had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
“We did come out with real focus; we are trying to do that every game. Obviously, we did not do that against San Miguel (Beermen),” said Gin Kings head coach Tim Cone after the game.
“It has been a tough conference for us, in terms of preparation and we want to give some guys mental and physical break when they come back from the Finals, we kinda want to extend that as much as we could but have to rush things,” he added.
William Navarro top-scored for the Batang Pier with 19 points, Sidney Onwubere, Avan Nava, and Jio Jalalon added 17, 14, and 11 points, respectively, while Joshua Munzon and Cade Flores tallied 10 apiece as they fell to a 1-3 record.
Meanwhile, Converge FiberXers leaned on a huge second half rampage to defeat the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 107-97. The FiberXers improved to a 4-2 record, while the Painters dropped to 2-2.
Alec Stockton and Deschon Winston spearheaded the offense with 24 markers apiece, Justin Arana tallied 18 points, 17 rebounds, and six assists, while Justine Baltazar posted a double-double of 13 points and 22 rebounds for the FiberXers./PN
BOX SCORE:
GINEBRA 131– Abarrientos 27, David 25, Holt 17, J. Aguilar 15, Rosario 15, Malonzo 14, Ahanmisi 7, Cu 6, Pinto 2, Thompson 2, Mariano 1, Adamos 0, Pessumal 0, R. Aguilar 0.
NORTHPORT 106 – Navarro 19, Onwubere 17, Nava 14, Jalalon 11, Munzon 10, Flores 10, Taha 8, Bulanadi 8, Cuntapay 3, Kwekuteye 2, Miranda 2, Nelle 2, Yu 0.
Quarterscores: 40-24, 70-43, 95-72, 131-106.
