MANILA — Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings relied on a fiery start to defeat the TNT Tropang 5G, 97-78, in the PBA Philippine Cup on Sunday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila City.
Rhon Jay Abarrientos finished with a game-high of 23 points, including five three-pointers, to go with four rebounds and four assists as the Gin Kings improved to a 7-3 win-loss slate.
Japeth Aguilar delivered a double-double with 20 markers and 14 rebounds, Stephen Holt and Jamie Malonzo tallied 12 apiece and Jeth Troy Rosario contributed 11 for the Gin Kings.
The Gin Kings played with urgency and purpose from the opening buzzer, starting with a 13-0 tear to establish a 30-11 lead that later went up to 54-27 heading into halftime break.
Barangay Ginebra’s lead went up to as high as 32 points midway through the third quarter before TNT managed to cut the deficit to 19 points late in the fourth quarter.
“I just don’t think we make too big of a deal out of this game. It’s an elimination game, they’re coming off a six-game winning streak, they played a day before yesterday, so I just don’t think that they were that ready for our intensity tonight,” said Gin Kings head coach Tim Cone.
Calvin Oftana finished with 18 points, while Jordan Heading added 10 markers, three rebounds, and three assists in his TNT debut as they dropped to a 6-4 win-loss slate.
Meanwhile, Blackwater Bossing turned to its 1-2 punch in Christian David and Sedrick Barefield in finally quelling Terrafirma Dyip’s threat and come out with a 97-82 victory.
David scored eight of his 19 points and Barefield seven of his 12 in the fourth as the Bossing ultimately took the fight out of the Dyip, who put up a gallant stand despite falling behind by 18 points early.
Richard Escoto fired 15 of his career-high 21 points in the second period that propelled the Bossing to as much as a 45-27 lead and a 52-45 halftime cushion en route to a 2-8 record./PN
BOX SCORE:
GINEBRA 97 – Abarrientos 23, J. Aguilar 20, Holt 12, Malonzo 12, Rosario 11, Pinto 6, Thompson 5, R. Aguilar 4, David 2, Gray 2 Adamos 0, Cu 0, Ahanmisi 0.
TNT 78 – Oftana 18, Heading 10, Aurin 9, Williams 8, Pogoy 8, Khobuntin 7, Enciso 5, Nieto 4, Vosotros 3, Ganuelas Rosser 2, Varilla 2, Erram 2, Heruela 0.
Quarterscores: 30-11, 54-27, 74-50, 97-78.
