Fired up Barangay Ginebra vents ire on Phoenix to book QFs seat

BARANGAY Ginebra delivered the knockout punch right away against Phoenix for a runaway 112-96 victory and a seat in the PBA Governors’ Cup quarterfinals.

With Japeth Aguilar and Scottie Thompson waxing hot early, the Kings scored 36 points in the first quarter before settling for a 16-point lead at the half.

Phoenix offered little resistance from there, allowing Ginebra to coast to its sixth win in nine outings and ended the Fuel Masters’ quarterfinals bid.

The win likewise softened the impact of the Kings’ previous loss against the San Miguel Beermen in a 49-point blowout.

“The game we came up against San Miguel, we were all disappointed with that game. We’re basically ashamed of that game,” said Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone of the Kings’ 131-82 thrashing at the hands of the Beermen.

“So for us to come back, I think we were really motivated to come back and play a better game tonight.”

Rookie RJ Abarrientos had a conference-high 24 points, five rebounds, and five assists for Ginebra, which also got 21 and 20 points, respectively from Aguilar and Thompson, who were also a combined 14 rebounds and 10 assists at the same time.

Import Justine Brownlee had a quiet 13 points, five rebounds, and nine assists in a rare time he took charge for the Kings, who led by as many as 87-66 in the third quarter.

Phoenix, which never led the entire game, bade its quarterfinal hopes goodbye after absorbing its eighth loss in nine outings.

Jason Perkins and Sean Manganti finished with 18 points each to lead the Fuel Masters.

“We really started doing our thing and got control of the game early and kept it the whole way,” said Cone. “There were moments that weren’t pretty, but for the most part, we played a solid game tonight.”

Ginebra will have its last game on Sunday against NLEX, while Phoenix will face NLEX first on Friday.

The scores

Ginebra (112) — Abarrientos 24, J.Aguilar 21, Thompson 20, Brownlee 13, Ahanmisi 12, Holt 9, R.Aguilar 4, Mariano 3, Pessumal 3, Adamos 2, Garcia 1, Tenorio 0, Pinto 0.

Phoenix (96) — Perkins 18, Manganti 18, Francis 17, Ballungay 16, Tuffin 9, Tio 6, Verano 4, Muyang 3, Soyud 3, Salado 2, Alejandro 0, Rivero 0, Ular 0, Jazul 0, Daves 0, Garcia 0.

Quarterscores: 36-24; 61-45; 90-75; 112-96.