Ababou steals show in Ginebra win over San Mig Coffee

MANILA, Philippines – All eyes were on Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s seven-foot rookie Greg Slaughter Sunday.

But grabbing the share of the limelight if not stealing the show was returning forward Dylan Ababou, who showed flashes of his pre-injury form.

The six-foot-four Ababou, who sustained an ACL injury last season, finally found the kind of game he was searching for and it couldn’t have come at a better time for the Kings.

Ababou delivered with 16 points, three rebounds and one steal in just 17 minutes off the bench – boosting the Kings to an 86-69 win over the San Mig Coffee Mixers in the 2014 PLDT MyDSL Philippine Cup opener at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“Dylan is a good defender and we saw that,” said Ginebra coach Ato Agustin, who fielded Ababou in at the 6:43 mark of the third quarter.

And immediately, Ababou made his presence felt and it wasn’t at the defensive end.

The former University of Santo Tomas ace let the game come to him and buried a triple from the right corner off an assist from LA Tenorio that pulled the Kings to within three 49-52 before making a contested layup as Ginebra took the lead 53-52 after trailing by as much as 12.

Ababou’s night was far from done at that point as he sustained his form in the fourth quarter-completing a three-point play and hitting two more triples to cap off his impressive performance.

“I was able to come back last conference but there were times where I still experience pain on my knee. I feel good in practice but the next week the pain goes back so I was like out for a year because I [tore] my ACL November last year,” Ababou, the one-time UAAP MVP, recalled.

Coincidentally, Ababou hurt his right knee against the Mixers and almost a year later, there he was, back like how he used to be at least for a game.

“I feel so happy and it’s for the confidence of the team, for the management and more importantly for my confidence. I thank the Lord that he put me in that situation where I was able to do what I wanted to do and help the team.”

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