Japeth Aguilar submitted his best outing of the conference to date as Ginebra repelled Phoenix, 110-101, to win back-to-back games for the first time in the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup, Friday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The veteran big man finished with 31 points on 11-of-13 shooting, none bigger than the turnaround jumper he made to push their lead to 110-98 with 2:26 left to play as it completely shut the door close on their upset-seeking foes.
He scored four of the Kings’ last seven points and it couldn’t be more important as they faced trouble in the second half, most especially in the third that saw the Fuel Masters get to within a point after being down by as many as 20.
“I’m really just trying to work on the spots where I can take some good shots. In our offense, really, our team is about ball movement, people movement,” said Aguilar, who also had four rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
(C) PBA Images
Helping him lead the Barangay was Justin Brownlee, who tallied his 14th career triple-double with 23 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists.
Stephen sustained his solid form from their rout of NLEX the last time out, delivering 19 points, including a four, three rebounds, and four assists,
Ditto with rookie RJ Abarrientos as he produced 16 points on a 40-percent clip, alongside four rebounds and the same amount of assists.
With the victory, Ginebra has gained a share of the second spot in Group B with San Miguel Beer, and will look to take the position for itself when it takes on the streaking Blackwater on Tuesday, September 10, in the same venue.
Brandone Francis, on the other hand, finished with 33 points, six rebounds, and four assists but his efforts weren’t enough to stop the bleeding for Phoenix.
The Fuel Masters have gone 0-2 with the Dominican reinforcement, and 0-5 overall as they are one of only two teams that have yet to win this conference, the other being Terrafirma as the Dyip are 0-5 as well in Group A.
RR Garcia made 18 points on a 2-of-2 clip from 27 feet as he starred in their third-quarter barrage, where they unloaded 18 straight to pull themselves to within a hair strand, 74-73, before Brownlee and Co. restored order,
Lead forward Jason Perkins added 13 points in the defeat, where he got held to a measly two points in the second half after a solid start into the match.
Now hoping to keep its quarterfinal hopes alive, the team of Coach Jamike Jarin will try to get that elusive W against Rain or Shine on Tuesday as well.
The Scores:
Ginebra 110 – Aguilar 31, Brownlee 23, Holt 19, Abarrientos 16, Thompson 9, Ahanmisi 7, Tenorio 3, Go 2, Cu 0, Pinto 0, Garcia 0, Adamos 0, Mariano 0.
Phoenix 101 – Francis 33, Garcia 17, Perkins 13, Mocon 8, Tio 7, Rivero 7, Muyang 5, Jazul 3, Ballungay 2, Manganti 2, Verano 2, Daves 2, Alejandro 0, Salado 0, Tuffin 0.
Quarterscores: 24-25, 57-46, 87-75, 110-101.
