Ginebra strings second straight win, halts Kia

PJ Ramos of KIA (dark) vs Billy Mamaril of Ginebra (light). NUKI SABIO/PBA

MANILA, Philippines—Their big guys were ready for the big guy.

Zooming in for their second straight win is Ginebra San Miguel as they ran past Kia Carnival and their behemoth of an import, 100-92, in their PBA Commissioner’s Cup outing Friday evening at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Ginebra was ready for the 7-foot-4 PJ Ramos as they threw all sorts of defensive scheme toward the hulking Puerto Rican.

From man-to-man defense, to zone, to help, Ginebra threw everything but the bench just to stop Ramos.

Japeth Aguilar, Greg Slaughter and Billy Mamaril were the legion to stop Ramos.

They forced Ramos to eight turnovers and a paltry 11/25 shooting.

Ramos, however, still put up a 37-point, 22-rebound double-double.

Ginebra head coach Ato Agustin was thankful that they managed to hold off Kia and Ramos especially as LA Tenorio played well after spending two nights in a hospital bed.

“We did everything, double teams, zones to man-to-man and it really was a difficult task,” Agustin said as they notched a 2-2 win-loss record. “Japeth really did a good job against him.”

From a close 71-70 start in the fourth, Ginebra led by eight, 83-75, after Michael Dunigan sank a pair of charities.

Ginebra led by as much as a dozen, 96-84, as Dunigan sank his third straight jumper from the stripe with 1:21 remaining.

Agustin said Tenorio suffered from a stomach illness which sidelined him for a couple of days.

Dunigan led Ginebra with 27 points and 11 boards while Greg Slaughter added 14 points and eight rebounds.

Tenorio, Mark Caguioa and Joseph Yep each added 11 points.

Mark Yee pitched in 13 points for the 1-4 Kia Carnival.

The scores:

GINEBRA 100 – Dunigan 27, Slaughter 14, Tenorio 11, Yeo 11, Caguioa 11, Ellis 8, Mamaril 6, Baracael 6, Aguilar 4, Monfort 2, Pena 0, Urbiztondo 0, Helterbrand 0, Ababou 0, Brondial 0

KIA 92 – Ramos 37, Yee 13, Revilla 9, Avenido 9, Cawaling 6, Pascual 6, Thiele 6, Dehesa 2, Alvarez 2, Bagatsing 2, Poligrates 0, Ighalo 0, Burtscher 0, Buensuceso 0

Quarterscores: 25-17, 46-45, 70-70, 100-92