Brgy. Ginebra trips Meralco

Allen Durham vs Scottie Thompson. PBA PHOTO

JUSTIN Brownlee scored 26 points, Sol Mercado had 19 and led Barangay Ginebra to a second straight win, a 107-93 thumping of Meralco in a Petron Saturday Special Game of the PBA Governors’ Cup at Quezon Convention Center in Lucena last night.

Japeth Aguilar fired 15 points and Mark Caguioa came off the bench to shoot 13 as the Gin Kings climbed to 3-1 overall while dealing the Bolts a second straight defeat for a level 2-2 record.

“We played tough down the stretch,” Ginebra coach Tim Cone said as they crept within half-a-game of idle pace-setters Mahindra and TNT Ka-Tropa after the second full week of action of the season-ending conference.

Allen Durham struggled offensively for the second consecutive game for the Bolts, shooting just 17 points. He averaged close to 34 in Meralco’s first two outings.

Cliff Hodge had 19 points in pacing the Bolts.

Meanwhile, San Miguel Beer tries to bounce back from its first defeat in the tournament when it collides with sister team Star in the 6:45 p.m. game of a regular twinbill today at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Coming off a shock 105-103 loss to the Enforcers last Wednesday, the Beermen will be shooting to get back on track and deny the Hotshots the chance to win back-to-back games for the first time.

Star snapped a two-game slide with a 105-102 decision of GlobalPort last Sunday.

The Batang Pier, on the other hand, and Phoenix Petroleum, the only winless sides in the 12-team field, clash in the 4:30 p.m. contest looking to get out of the cellar and start making things happen in this short single-round elimination.

Every win would be vital from this point onward as only the top eight teams will advance to the first phase of the playoffs. Team Nos. 9 to 12 will get the boot.

Squads would need to assemble winning streaks whenever possible since qualifying from fifth to eighth would carry a big disadvantage of needing to beat a higher-ranked foe two straight times to make the Final Four.

Phoenix will be parading a new import in Eugene Phelps in its effort to arrest its skid, while the Batang Pier will again ride the high-scoring guard tandem of Terrence Romeo and Stanley Pringle.

The scores:
GINEBRA 107–Brownlee 26, Mercado 19, Aguilar 15, Caguioa 13, Devance 9, Tenorio 9, Thompson 7, Bonifacio 2, Cruz 2, Helterbrand 2, Mariano 2, Marcelo 1.
MERALCO 93–Hodge 19, Hugnatan 18, Durham 17, Newsome 16, Uyloan 9, Jamshidi 7, Alapag 3, Bono 2, Nabong 2, Caram 0, Dillinger 0, Faundo 0.
Quarters: 32-21, 51-47, 81-71, 107-93