Torrid Kings destroy Bolts
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BIÑAN, Laguna—When Barangay Ginebra gets the others to help its twin towers, the Gin Kings seem an unfair match for anyone else—like how Meralco probably felt last night.
Getting contributions from everyone for the first time, the Gin Kings dominated the Bolts with impunity on the way to posting an 89-64 victory in the young Smart Bro-PBA Philippine Cup before a thrilled, noisy crowd at Alonte Sports Center here.
The support cast to Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar scored all but 12 of the Kings’ 42 first-half points, leading crowd-darling Ginebra to an early breakaway and to the most lopsided win of the season for a 2-3 card overall.
And when Slaughter and Aguilar buckled down to offensive mode in the third period, the Kings made it even uglier with leads of as large as 29 that eventually doomed the Bolts to their fifth straight loss.
Meralco made just eight points in the second quarter and returned to the locker room staring at a 25-42 deficit. And after being held to just 16 in the third, it was all over but the shouting.
Slaughter and Aguilar finished with 18 points each. Slaughter also had 14 rebounds.
“We came out and shot the ball well today,” Cone said. “But the most important thing is that we played with the tempo that we wanted to play with today and that kept our big men fresh. And that was key.”
In the curtain-raiser, RR Garcia towed Barako Bull to a 93-85 decision of Mahindra that sealed the Energy’s first winning streak.
The 5-foot-10 point guard hit 16 of his career-best 26 points in the final period, including a dagger triple with 1:20 left that had the Energy taking a 91-81 lead to rise to 3-2.
“I am just thankful that we are not playing against him,” Barako Bull coach Koy Banal said of Garcia, whom the Energy acquired from a trade with Globalport last season.
Barako Bull nipped Meralco, 108-106, Sunday night.
The scores:
First Game
BARAKO 93—Garcia 26, Intal 20, Wilson 11, Baracael 9, Pennisi 6, Monfort 5, Lanete 4, Miranda 3, Urbiztondo 3, Andrada 2, Caperal 2, Sorongon 2, Fortuna 0.
MAHINDRA 85—Yee 17, Revilla 14, Jaime 9, Dehesa 7, Hubalde 6, Pascual 6, Ramos 6, Webb 6, Canaleta 5, Guinto 4, Alvarez 2, Laure 2, Bagatsing 1, Pinto 0.
Quarters: 22-18, 48-41, 69-59, 93-85
Second Game
BARANGAY GINEBRA 89—Aguilar 18, Slaughter 18, Salva12, Devance 8, Tenorio 7, Caguioa 7, Mercado 7, Ellis 4, Villamor 4, Helterbrand 3, Marcelo 2, Mariano 0.
MERALCO 64—David 18, Newsome 13, Al-Hussaini 13, Hugnatan 5, Nabong , Hodge 3, Guevarra 3, Amer 2, Dillinger 2, Faundo 2, Alapag 0, Ferrriols 0, Atkins 0, Sedurifa 0.
Quarters: 22-17. 42-25. 70-41. 89-64
