Coach Yeng Guiao had previously warned that Rain or Shine would be facing a Ginebra team different from the one it beat in Ilocos Sur last August 24.
He was proven right.
The Kings rolled to a 124-102 victory for a sweet payback in their PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup rematch, Friday night at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Justin Brownlee starred with 40 points and 10 rebounds, making a four and five triples to lead the Barangay’s vengeful win predicated on torrid shooting.
After struggling to find the net in their first-round encounter that led to a 64-73 loss, they went an impressive 17-of-33 from three this time around.
“That was a beautiful facility,” said Coach Tim Cone of the Candon City Arena. “But it’s just a tough place to shoot. The rims are really hard and tight.
“And if you’re not used to that, and we weren’t used to it, then it’s a tough place to shoot,” he added as they went 26-of-94 from the field in that loss.
All in all, Ginebra shot 55.3 percent, with a total of six players finishing in double figures in the win that saw them recover after losing a 15-point lead.
Japeth Aguilar registered 21 points and eight rebounds. Stephen Holt produced 18 points, which he all collected from beyond the arc (6-of-9).
Scottie Thompson came through with 17 points and eight rebounds, while rookie RJ Abarrientos and Maverick Ahanmisi added 14 and 13, respectively.
“The tempo of the game was much, much faster,” Cone said. “In the last game against Rain or Shine, we tried to really slow it down and keep the score low.
“Today, we made that desire that we’re gonna take our opportunities if they were there. We took our opportunities and that pushed the score up a little bit more.”
Big thanks to their third-quarter pullaway, Ginebra improved to 5-2 and created a three-way tie at the no. 1 spot of Group B with RoS and San Miguel.
That fact alone should make Sunday all the more intriguing, as the Kings will take on the Beermen at 7:30 in the Big Dome as well.
However, the team could be without Isaac Go in that heavyweight bout as the young big went down with an apparent knee injury during the first quarter.
The Elasto Painters, on the other hand, were led by Aaron Fuller with 28 points and 11 rebounds as they fell to their second defeat in three games.
Jhonard Clarito made 16 points and five rebounds while rookie Felix Lemetti and Adrian Nocum added 15 and 12, respectively, in the blowout loss.
Guiao and Co. will look to bounce back as they take on new import DeQuan Jones and NLEX on Tuesday, September 17, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The Scores:
Ginebra 124 – Brownlee 40, J.Aguilar 21, Holt 18, Thompson 17, Abarrientos 14, Ahanmisi 13, Garcia 1, Pinto 0, R.Aguilar 0, Cu 0, Adamos 0, Pessumal 0, Go 0.
Rain or Shine 102 – Fuller 28, Clarito 16, Lemetti 15, Nocum 12, Caracut 8, Santillan 6, Villegas 6, Tiongson 5, Mamuyac 4, Norwood 2, Datu.
Quarterscores: 38-30 58-54, 90-79, 124-102.
