Ginebra heats up late to stop Mahindra

Ginebra used a strong second half to send Mahindra to its fifth straight loss with an 89-70 drubbing in the PBA Philippine Cup Friday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Gin Kings reached the .500 mark with a 2-2 record while the Floodbuster continued their losing run and dropped to 0-5.

Mahindra, however, proved bothersome in the first half even taking a 27-26 lead late in the second quarter.

It was in the third quarter that Gin Kings laid enough foundation as they ended the period on a 10-2 run to take a 55-47 lead.

“The first half was a struggle, it took us a long time to get going, but in the second half we had positive things going and it gave us a chance to play the young guys,” said Ginebra head coach Tim Cone.

Ginebra’s lead ballooned to 28, 87-59, after rookie Kevin Ferrer made a triple from the right wing late in the fourth quarter.

With the game firmly in their grasp, Cone put in less prolific rookies Jammer Jamito and Jericho De Guzman, who was once a practice player of the team.

Japeth Aguilar put up 15 points and grabbed 12 boards to lead Ginebra while Chris Ellis and Kevin Ferrer had a dozen points each.

Mark Yee led the Floodbuster with 15 points and eight rebounds.