Barangay Ginebra San Miguel were able to execute on both ends late, handing the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters to their first loss of the season, 81-74, Sunday evening at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Japeth Aguilar came up huge with 23 points, 13 rebounds, and a block. Joe Devance added 13 markers while the bench combined for 32 points in a balanced scoring affair for Barangay Ginebra.
“Yung first game namin, parang wala kaming natutunan sa series namin last Governor’s Cup so nag-focus talaga kami sa defense and siyempre i-improve yung offense,” shared Aguilar after his team forced Rain or Shine to miss their last 12 attempts from the floor.
Ginebra jumped ahead to an eight-point first quarter lead behind their front court doing the damage from inside. The Kings struggled to find their shots from the outside, while Rain or Shine began to do put on scoring from the perimeter.
By the two middle quarters, Rain or Shine were able to swing the lead in their favor, and go up by as much as seven before the game’s pace slowed down due to the team’s defense back-and-forth.
The dogfight pushed until the final stretch of the final frame, but Ginebra’s defense further tightened up to silence Rain or Shine in the last four minutes of the game. At that moment, Gabe Norwood’s jumper gave the Elasto Painters its last taste of the lead at 74-70.
As physicality of the game tightened up, the troika of Sol Mercado, Joe Devance and Japeth Aguilar quickly converted on six straight points and swing the lead in Ginebra’s favor for good. A couple of turnovers by Rain or Shine, including a cold stretch from the perimeter paved the way for Ginebra to grab the win.
Ginebra had 26 assists out of their 32 made field goal attempts, but shot a horrid 53 percent from the stripe. They also won the game without converting any three-point shot in 14 tries.
“Kailangan mapahalagahan din namin yung free throws. We are working on free throws, uncomfortable sa una pero sa huli mag-bebenefit pa rin kami,” Aguilar added.
Raymond Almazan topped the Elasto Painters with a huge double-double with 13 points and 15 rebounds. James Yap once again had 10 points, while Jericho Cruz and Maverick Ahanmisi chipped in nine points apiece.
Ginebra (0-1) will next face the GlobalPort Batang Pier (2-0) next Sunday, December 11 at the Araneta Coliseum, while Rain or Shine (2-1) will have the Blackwater Elite (2-1) in their next assignment on December 9 also at the Big Dome.
The Scores:
Ginebra (81) – Aguilar 23, Devance 13, Mercado 8, Thompson 7, Caguioa 6, Cruz 6, Helterbrand 4, Mariano 4, Tenorio 4, Ellis 2, Marcelo 2, Taha 2, Ferrer 0.
Rain or Shine (74) – Almazan 13, Yap 10, Ahanmisi 9, Cruz 9, Belga 7, Washington 7, Norwood 6, Trollano 5, Chan 3, Tolomia 3, Ponferada 2.
Quarterscores: 24-21, 40-36, 58-62, 81-74
