Japeth Aguilar vs Niño Canaleta. PBA IMAGES
ANTIPOLO—Othyus Jeffers nearly had a triple-double and Barangay Ginebra rolled to its third straight win after a 104-86 win over Mahindra in the 2016 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Wednesday night at Ynares Center here.
Jeffers collected 24 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists while also getting plenty of help from the locals led by LA Tenorio.
“We put a complete game together,” said Ginebra head coach Tim Cone. “I thought we played really good defense. Greg (Slaughter) and Japeth (Aguilar) were really on target in terms of guarding Gilchrist. They really did a good job of tag teaming Gilchrist.”
“Offensively, LA really got our offense under control,” Cone added.
Tenorio finished with 15 points, six rebound and seven assists while Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar recorded double-doubles apart from their efforts in containing Enforcers import Augustus Gilchrist.
Gilchrist was held to only 18 points on 5-of-15 shooting from the field as Mahindra slipped to 3-2.
The Kings led big from the start and took a 21-point lead late in the second quarter before the Enforcers cut it to just seven midway through the third period thanks to the hot shooting of KG Canaleta.
Canaleta had a team-high 22 points including a buzzer-beating triple to end the third quarter where Mahindra only trailed by 10, 72-62.
Ginebra regrouped and opened the final frame on a 17-9 run en route to a 3-2 record.
The Kings are coming off solid victories over Rain or Shine and Star after opening the import tournament a 0-2.