Gin Kings survive Enforcers
BARANGAY Ginebra survived a turnover-prone game against undermanned Mahindra last night, winning, 93-86, as the Gin Kings inched closer to a top four berth in the playoffs of the PBA Governors’ Cup at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
The Gin Kings just had too much firepower for the Enforcers, winning convincingly despite committing 24 blunders for the night, 10 of them coming in the first quarter alone and 15 for the half which Ginebra still took, 43-34.
It was the third straight victory in a 7-2 card for the Kings, who crept within a game of the league-leading TNT KaTropa for the top seed in the quarterfinals.
The Enforcers absorbed a second consecutive setback in a 6-4 card and would need to beat Meralco in their last outing to assure themselves of at least a playoff for the last quarterfinal bonus.
Justin Brownlee scored 27 points and had 17 rebounds and 6-foot rookie Scottie Thompson also completed a double-double with 12 points and the same number of boards in leading Ginebra.
Greg Slaughter made his return from a four-month absence and finished with seven points and four rebounds in just over 10 minutes.
James White paced the Enforcers with 23 points and 13 boards, with Paolo Taha shooting 20. Mahindra was without KG Canaleta, who was sidelined by a back injury.
“It wasn’t pretty, that’s for sure,” Ginebra coach Tim Cone said of the win. “Tonight, we won this game because of our talent.”
Meanwhile, NLEX held the high-powered GlobalPort offensive machine to the minimum in the second half to pound out a 114-98 victory that gave the Road Warriors at least a playoff for a quarterfinal slot in the first game.
The Road Warriors held their foes to just 39 points in the final two periods en route to notching their fifth win in 10 starts.
The loss, the third straight in a 3-7 card, put the Batang Pier on the bubble, their fates of advancing not in their hands anymore.
“We did a good job in stopping their Big Three in the second half,” NLEX coach Boyet Fernandez said, referring to the outputs of Terrence Romeo, Stanley Pringle and import Mike Glover in the final two quarters.
The scores:
First Game
NLEX 114—Walker 35, Lanete 25, Villanueva J. 14, Alas 11, Taulava 11, Baracael 5, Anthony 4, Khobuntin 4, Villanueva E. 3, Akl 2, Monfort 0, Reyes 0.
GLOBALPORT 98—Pringle 27, Romeo 26, Glover 21, Salvacion 7, Semerad 6, Mamaril 5, Washington 4, Yeo 2, Taha 0.
Quarters: 25-31, 51-59, 88-79, 114-98
Second Game
GINEBRA 93—Brownlee 27, Aguilar 19, Thompson 12, Slaughter 7, Mercado 5, Tenorio 4, Cruz 4, Devance 2, Helterbrand 2, Marcelo 2, Mariano 0.
MAHINDRA 86—White 23, Taha 20, Aguilar 10, Revilla 10, Ramos 7, Digregorio 5, Galanza 4, Bagatsing 3, Agovida 2, Guinto 2, Ballesteros 0, Jaime 0, Mandani 0.
Quarters: 20-22, 43-34, 63-60, 93-86
