As the dogfight for playoff spots continues, the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel pulled off a huge one by defeating the top-seeded Meralco Bolts, 103-90, and notch a quarterfinal best-of-three series berth held at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday evening.
Ginebra’s opening offensive punches came from swishes within the midrange area courtesy of Greg Slaughter and Mark Caguioa. The Gins also doubled Arinze Onuaku to rattle Meralco’s offense, that led to lower percentage attempts. Meanwhile, LA Tenorio’s and-one fastbreak play ignited Ginebra’s first quarter surge, as the team closed it out on a 15-4 rampage and came out on top, 27-14
The Bolts were plagued with second quarter turnovers and free throw misses that enabled the Kings to retain their lead. The crowd-favorite Ginebra squad played through their strength, going to the interior for their offense. Meralco tried to salvage some points through a couple of fastbreak attempts, but Slaughter and Tenorio responded to counter the Bolts. At the break, Ginebra enjoyed a 12-point lead.
Offense started to roll for both teams in the new half, but the Bolts had a hard time slicing the deficit in their inability to make successive stops. Halfway through the third, Ginebra erected its largest lead of the game at 67-45 on an Otheyus Jeffers jumper. On the other end, Meralco was able to chip into the gap with five straight points by Reynel Hugnatan and three big key free throws by Jarred Dillinger in the final play.
Despite the mini spurt, Meralco continued to lag behind Ginebra’s firepower. The exchange of baskets continued in the fourth quarter, favoring the Kings. In addition, the Kings settled let the Bolts played more on a one-on-one type of basketball, limiting the Bolts to move the ball around. Onuaku tried to help his team by crashing the offensive glass. However, Ginebra built an 11-2 run in the last middle of the fourth to put the nail in the coffin.
For Coach Tim Cone, the victory was huge in terms of the team’s readiness coming into the next round. Prior to the match, the Kings won against the Philippine champs SMB, making this win against the league-leading Bolts a key one in ending their elims.
“It was much more important for us. They’re gonna be twice to beat (Meralco). We had a lot more stake than they did. We played well from start to finish,” Cone said after the game.
Greg Slaughter finished with 21 points on an efficient 7/9 shooting and a perfect 7/7 clip from the free throw area.
“Looking at the numbers, Greg played well from start to finish,” Cone shared. “We knew it’s gonna be a defensive battle, but good thing Greg and the rest were able to hit early shots. We played two real toug teams and hopefully it goes until the playoffs.”
Along with Slaughter’s game-long brilliance was Tenorio finishing with 20 markers, four rebounds and three assists. Like his coach, the floor general pointed out the impact of this victory.
“Going to this game, must win talaga mindset. We have to play well kasi number one defensive team sila,” the floor general added. “Yun talaga kailangan namin maging in good position at maging ready coming into the playoffs. As of now at least ginawa namin part namin.”
Ginebra shot 56% for the entire 48-minute match compared to Meralco’s 43%. Despite having more turnovers, 21-14, Ginebra scored more in transition 16-11. They also limited Meralco’s reinforcement to a pedestal 10-point effort.
Ginebra rounded up their 11-game elims with a 7-4 record and two straight victories. Meanwhile, Meralco snapped its three-game winning streak and dropped to 8-3. The Bolts are a win ahead of San Miguel in the race for the top spot.
The Scores:
Ginebra (103) – Slaughter 21, Tenorio 20, Caguioa 16, Aguilar 14, Jeffers 11, Ellis 10, Marcelo 4, Thompson 3, Mercado 2, Devance 2, Helterbrand 0, Cruz 0.
Meralco (90) – Newsome 23, Dillinger 17, Hodge 13, Hugnatan 11, Onuaku 10, Caram 5, Faundo 4, Buenafe 3, Amer 2, Ferriols 2, Bono 0, Alapag 0.
Quarterscores: 27-14, 51-39, 80-66, 103-90.
