Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
BOCAUE — Ginebra once again, had Magnolia’s number after coming out with an 89-78 win in their Christmas Clasico clash Monday night at Philippine Arena here.
The Gin Kings went to their strengths late as Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar sealed the deal to lead their squad to a triumphant debut.
Slaughter fired 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and four blocks, capping a dominant showing with a game-sealing three point play with 29.2 seconds left.
Aguilar contributed 12 markers and five boards, highlighting his outing with a pair of rim-rattling dunks in the final 2:05 taking the air out of the opposition.
Jervy Cruz chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
“I’m a little surprised at how well we played,” said coach Tim Cone as he was impressed with how his Gin Kings performed after the offseason the team had coming to this first conference.
“It was like a perfect storm for us to get beat tonight, but our guys figured out a way. We weren’t perfect out there but we played with really good energy.”
As much as the bigs shone under the spotlight, the win wouldn’t have been possible without the solid showing of Ginebra’s backcourt.
LA Tenorio scattered 15 points, eight assists, five rebounds, and five steals, while Scottie Thompson added six markers, nine rebounds, and seven assists in the victory.
Magnolia saw the career-night of Ian Sangalang go down the drain. Sangalang had 25 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.
Paul Lee had 16 markers, three assists, and three steals, while Peter June Simon got 15.
The scores:
GINEBRA 89 — Slaughter 24, Tenorio 15, J. Aguilar 12, Cruz 12, Caguioa 7, Ferrer 7, Thompson 6, Mariano 4, Taha 2, R. Aguilar 0, Manuel 0.
MAGNOLIA 78 — Sangalang 25, Lee 16, Simon 15, Pingris 6, Barroca 4, Dela Rosa 4, Gamalinda 4, Herndon 2, Melton 2, Ramos 0, Brondial 0, Pascual 0.
Quarters: 22-17, 48-37, 66-60, 89-78.