Barangay Ginebra San Miguel remained invincible for two straight outings this conference as the Kings got back at San Mig Coffee Mixers with an empathic, 93-64 victory to even their Manila Cl(–foul word(s) removed–)ico semifinals showdown at one game apiece yesterday in the PLDT MyDSL Philippine Cup.
Photo Credit: GMA News
After being a non-factor in the series opener, Ginebra’s towering center Greg Slaughter played as big as his height suggest to lead Ginebra in turning an expected close contest to a lop-sided win before a near 19,000 crowd of the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The determined Kings, who surprised San Mig by employing a zone defense, took control early in the game behind their 6’11 big man, who imposed his will in the paint, scoring 15 points in the opening quarter.
The mixers, fresh from their game one victory, managed to come close at 19-25 at the end of the first frame and stay within striking distance before Ginebra, which found a big lift from its bench led by JayJay Helterbrand, unloaded a blistering, 20-8 salvo in the second period to take a huge 16-point advantage at the half.
San Mig then had a mini run that negated Kings 5-0 blitz to open the third and put some scare but Ginebra abled to pick up where they left off in the first half to pull away for good.
Slaughter finished with a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds, Helterbrand scored 11 markers while LA Tenorio and Billy Mamaril also contributed double-figures for Ginebra.
PJ Simon and Marc Pingirs were the only bright spot for the Mixers scoring 16 and 15 markers respectively.
The game three is scheduled on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The scores:
Ginebra (93)—Slaughter 21, Helterbrand 11, Tenorio 10, Mamaril 10, Reyes 8, Caguioa 8, Aguilar 7, Montfort 5, Ellis 4, Faundo 4, Baracael 3, Forrester 2, Ababou 0.
San Mig (64)—Simon 16, Pingris 15, Yap 14, Barroca 7, De Ocampo 3, Acuna 3, Mallari 3, Devance 2, Cawaling 1, Gaco 0, Sanggalang 0, Melton 0, Holstein 0, Reavis 0.
Quarterscores: 24-19, 48-32, 69-53, 93-64
