MANILA, Philippines—Japeth Aguilar climbed the record books in one emphatic fashion.
Barangay Ginebra’s beanpole forward claimed the 15th spot in the PBA’s all-time shot blocking list when he came up clutch and thwarted Allen Durham at the summit in Game 1 of the Governors’ Cup finals.
Aguilar’s block on Durham with around 13 seconds left in the game that sealed Ginebra’s 91-87 win was the 575th of his career and thus putting him above Ricky Relosa on the list.
“It was really a tremendous play, and one of the best I’ve seen in a long time,” said Ginebra head coach Tim Cone Tuesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Aguilar’s block was also by design and wasn’t just a reflex move in the paint.
The 6-foot-9 power forward already had a couple of rejections prior to his career-defining block and he knew that Durham was about to drive hard to the paint in Meralco’s time of need.
“We knew that Durham will take over and with just a few seconds left I saw that he had the ball and he attacked the basket strong so I just focused,” said Aguilar. “I did my best and fortunately I was able to get the block.”