With Japeth Aguilar again leading an air show that has characterized its campaign this season, Barangay Ginebra rolled to a third straight win in the PLDT MyDSL Philippine Cup eliminations after downing Air21, 78-69, at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
Aguilar fired 22 points—including two of the most electrifying dunks this conference—that went with 12 rebounds and a career-high eight blocks as the Kings overwhelmed the Express to stay second at 6-1 behind unbeaten leader and sister squad Petron Blaze.
The Kings led by 18 points at 52-34 in the third quarter, thanks to an Aguilar dunk that got the unusually small crowd on its feet—when he took off facing the right side of the rim before throwing it down on the reverse with both hands.
The vastly athletic 6-foot-9 Aguilar pulled off another gravity-defying move at the 9:06 mark of the fourth period when he followed up a three-point miss by Mac Baracael with a two-handed jam where his head almost hit the rim for 64-53.
“We’re in second spot, but we need to keep on winning to maintain our position and earn a twice-to-beat advantage (in the quarterfinals),” said Ginebra coach Ato Agustin in Filipino.
The Express remained at the bottom of the 10-team field with a 1-7 slate.
The race for No. 1 would more or less clear up when the 7-0 Boosters and the Kings square off on Christmas Day also at the Arena.
Greg Slaughter, the No. 1 pick in the last Draft, scored 19 points that went with 10 boards and three blocks and Chris Ellis was the third Gin King with a double-double output with 10 and 11.
Though the trio did combine for 33 boards, Ginebra narrowly beat the Express in the rebound battle, 56-53, as the 40-year-old veteran Asi Taulava collared 13 rebounds.
Joseph Yeo kept the Express in the game, shooting 21 of his 28 points in the second half.
The Express, whose record doesn’t really say how well they have played in the first two months of the season, actually held the lead after the first period only to be held down to just 10 points in the second and give up a 41-26 lead to the Kings at the break.
The scores:
First Game
BARANGAY GINEBRA 78—Aguilar 22, Slaughter 19, Ellis 10, Caguioa 8, Baracael 7, Tenorio 4, Reyes 2, Helterbrand 2, Mamaril 2, Forrester 2, Monfort 0, Urbiztondo 0.
AIR21 69—Yeo 28, Canaleta 14, Taulava 8, Camson 8, Cardona 4, Jaime 2, Burtscher 2, Custodio 2, Arboleda 1, Matias 0, Espiritu 0, Sharma 0, Ritualo 0.
Quarters: 15-16, 41-26, 57-46, 78-69