Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
Greg Slaughter imposed his presence down low and helped Ginebra claim its first victory in the 2017 PBA Governors’ Cup with a 124-108 hammering of GlobalPort Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Only in his second game since returning from an ACL injury, the Cebuano giant came off the bench and put his foot down in the second quarter, firing 10 of his 19 points to help the Gin Kings jumpstart the blowout and lead by as much as 25, 107-82, with eight minutes remaining in the game.
Slaughter also hauled down eight rebounds and blocked two shots.
LA Tenorio got himself going early, unfurling 10 of his 29 markers in the first quarter, on top of five boards and four assists, while Justin Brownlee bounced back from a dismal showing in the Gin Kings’ 93-78 loss to Meralco last week and dropped 21 points, 12 rebounds, and four dimes.
Joe Devance chipped in 14 markers and six boards, while Scottie Thompson scattered 13 points, nine assists, and two rebounds.
The win came as a shock even to Ginebra coach Tim Cone, who admitted that there was a lot to be desired with how his team fared in its season opener.
“Frankly, I wasn’t sure I’d be here. After our first game, I wasn’t sure if we can figure it out that quickly, but we had a week of practice after that game and we made a lot of adjustments. We visited the triangle a bit more because the triangle is a good post offense,” said Cone.
“We went back to it a little bit and it allows us to play different kinds of line-ups and it allows us to do different kind of things defensively as well,” he said.
Murphy Holloway paced GlobalPort (1-2) with 36 points, 18 rebounds, and three assists, while Terrence Romeo got 25 markers, nine assists, and five boards in the losing effort.
The scores:
GINEBRA 124 – Tenorio 29, Brownlee 21, Slaughter 19, Devance 14, Thompson 13, Aguilar 9, Mariano 7, Cruz 4, Caguioa 4, Ellis 2, Taha 2, Jamito 0.
GLOBALPORT 108 – Holloway 36, Romeo 25, Pringle 18, Anthony 8, Arana 5, Maierhofer 4, Cortez 3, Pennisi 3, Aban 2, Guinto 2, Van Opstal 2, Grey 0, Ababou 0.
Quarters: 29-28, 61-51, 93-76, 124-108.