PBA: Ginebra clinches top seed, dumps Terrafirma

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MANILA, Philippines — Barangay Ginebra secured the top seed after steamrolling Terrafirma, 102-80, in the PBA Philippine Cup Monday night at AUF Sports Arena & Cultural Center in Angeles, Pampanga.

The Gin Kings broke the game wide open in the second quarter where they dominated the Dyip, 35-14, to take a 61-37 advantage at the half.

“We knew we didn’t play well the last game and I knew that they wanna bounce back and come back hard,” said Ginebra head coach Tim Cone, referring to his squad’s 81-66 loss to defending champion San Miguel Beer on Sunday.

Scottie Thompson displayed his all-around game anew, tallying 13 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists for Ginebra, which ended the elimination round with an 8-3 record.

“We were really focused coming into this game,” said Thompson in Filipino. “We had that playoff mentality.”

The Dyip trimmed the deficit to eight late in the third quarter but that was the closest they got as the Gin Kings restored order and extended their lead back to 20 in the final frame.

Japeth Aguilar had a perfect offensive game, scoring 21 points on 10-of-10 shooting from the field that went with seven rebounds and two blocks.

CJ Perez and Juami Tiongson scored 16 points each for Terrafirma, who have lost back-to-back since their breakthrough win over Blackwater last Friday.