PBA: Hong Kong Eastern escapes exhausted Ginebra

Hong Kong Eastern’s Hayden Blankley puts up a shot against Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings’ Justin Brownlee during a PBA Commissioner’s Cup game. –PBA IMAGES

ANTIPOLO – Guest club Hong Kong took everything Barangay Ginebra could and played with steely nerves until the final horn to carve out a 93-90 decision in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Sunday night.

Eastern sewed up a second-straight win and rose to 4-1 on the efforts of Hayden Blankley and Glen Yang, two holdovers from the now-defunct Bay Area Dragons who tested the Gin Kings in the championship series two years ago.

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“Glen, Kobey (Lam) and I are very experienced against a lot of those guys and against the same system,” said Blankley, who starred with 25 points, five rebounds and four assists.

“After the Blackwater game, we added to what coach’s plans were, giving out tips on personnel and what we could do for the system. That experience helped.”

Import Chirs McLaughlin chipped in 20 points and 21 rebounds while Ramon Cao, Yang and Lam all chipped in significant numbers in the scoring effort that snapped Barangay Ginebra’s two-game winning streak to start the tournament.

“I’m happy the players believed and trusted our plan. It’s a big win for the team, really. I want to congratulate my players for fighting throughout the game. I know very well how hard to play against Ginebra,” said Hong Kong coach Mensur Bajramović.

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Japeth Aguilar had 26 points to show the way for the misfiring and exhausted Gin Kings, who nearly overhauled a 13-point deficit after pulling within one, 91-90, with four ticks left in the duel.

Justin Brownlee added 18, Stephen Holt, RJ Abarrientos, and Troy Rosario double-digit scores of their own in the losing effort.

Hong Kong plays San Miguel in the East Asia Super League on their home turf this Wednesday before taking on unbeaten NorthPort on Dec. 20.

Barangay Ginebra, meanwhile, tries to get back on track when it takes on Terrafirma this coming Wednesday.

The Scores:

EASTERN 93 – Blankley 25, McLaughlin 20, Cao 14, Yang 11, Lam 8, Chan 6, Guinchard 5, Leung 3, Xu 1, Cheung 0, Zhu 0

GINEBRA 90 – J.Aguilar 26, Brownlee 18, Holt 14, Abarrientos 12, Rosario 12, Thompson 8, Ahanmisi 0, Cu 0, Adamos 0

Quarterscores: 26-25, 54-44, 73-67, 93-90.