Allen Durham played like a man on a mission, powering Meralco’s 101-77 beatdown of rivals Barangay Ginebra in the 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup Sunday night at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The two-time Best Import erupted for 39 big points, 23 of which came in the first half alone where he helped the Bolts jump to a 26-14 lead that set up the lopsided affair all the way through.
He also had 12 rebounds, seven assists, and two steals — one of his steals led to a Chris Newsome lay-up, which gave Meralco its biggest lead of the game, 60-35, at the 10:03-mark of the third canto.
“AD came out and did a great job offensively. He was hitting his 3-pointers, he was scoring inside. He just really set the tone for the game,” lauded coach Norman Black of his prized import.
Bong Quinto also made his presence felt in the victory with 13 points and five rebounds. Newsome produced 10 points and nine boards, while Raymond Almazan added 10 and nine.
“We had a lot of contributions from a lot of players, it was on our part, really a good team game, offensively, defensively,” said Black as Meralco improved to 6-2 to grab solo third.
Justin Brownlee only had 18 points, seven rebounds, and three assists to lead Ginebra, who saw its four-game winning streak come to an end, dropping them to 5-3 in the standings.
LA Tenorio was the only other double-digit scorer for the Gin Kings with 12 points in the defeat.
“They beat us black and blue and they beat us at all phases of the game tonight,” lamented coach Tim Cone. “We came into the game playing on our reputation and didn’t put the work in.”
Both teams will see action again on Friday, November 8, still at the Big Dome. Meralco takes on Columbian (4-5) at 4:30 p.m. while Ginebra battles long-time rivals TNT (7-1) at 7:00 p.m.
The Scores:
Meralco 101 – Durham 39, Quinto 13, Newsome 11, Almazan 10, Amer 8, Caram 5, Pinto 5, Faundo 4, Hodge 2, Maliksi 2, Jackson 2, Salva 0, Jose 0, Jamito 0.
Ginebra 77 – Brownlee 18, Tenorio 12, Pringle 8, Aguilar 8, Mariano 7, Thompson 6, Dela Cruz 6, Slaughter 5, Caguioa 4, Caperal 2, Sargent 1, Chan 0.
Quarterscores: 26-15, 53-32, 77-53, 101-77
