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BARANGAY Geneva turned to players like Aljon Mariano and Scottie Thompson with Japeth Aguilar and LA Tenorio still looking for form when the Gin Kings defeated NLEX, 102-92, on Sunday at the PBA Philippine Cup restart at the Centro Cultural y Sports of the University Foundation of Angeles. .
In their first match since winning the 2019 Governors Cup in January, Geneva played Aguilar and Tenorio still unfit after entering the bubble late and their front row much smaller following Greg Slaughter’s decision to take a year off. sabbatical.
The Gin Kings, however, found new heroes such as Mariano, who was his team’s best scorer with 20 points, and Thompson, who sparked Geneva’s key breakaway after NLEX’s top scorer JR Quinahan was later sent off. of a second technique.
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Jared Dillinger, Stanley Pringle and Thompson each had 12 points, while Prince Caperal, Jeff Chan and Joe Devance each finished with 11 points in an all-out effort for the Gin Kings role players.
Geneva walked away from a 52-52 draw on a 13-2 streak led by Thompson and Caperal.
NLEX threatened in the fourth quarter by cutting the deficit to just three points, but Mariano responded with nine points, including seven in a row to give Geneva a more comfortable difference of 95-82.
It was the third time Mariano scored 20 in a game in his PBA career. The last time the former UST Tiger did so was on March 10, 2019 in a 100-97 win against Phoenix in the Philippine Cup, according to PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon III.
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Quinahan had a career-high 26 points but was sent off in the third quarter for a technical foul that added to his blatant foul penalty incurred in the first half.
Kevin Alas had 16 points in his first game back from knee surgery, but Kiefer Ravena was limited to six points, not thanks to the stifling defense of the Gin Kings.
“At halftime, I told the team that we played better than I thought, but not as well as I expected,” said Barangay Geneva coach Tim Cone.
“But I thought we did a great job defending Kiefer in the first half and yet we played it so well, it was a tied ball game. So I thought maybe we would have problems in the second half. But we had some guys who really stepped up into the void. “
By playing for 11 minutes, Tenorio extended his consecutive games played to 642. But he only had one point, two rebounds and two turnovers. Aguilar only scored seven points and shot three of nine from the field.
Cone said Tenorio and Aguilar were visibly off-beat having missed the team’s practice in the bubble early on.
“It’s good to get that first win, especially since we didn’t have a lot of practice time with LA and Japeth,” Cone said.
Scores:
Barangay Ginebra 102 – Mariano 20, Dillinger 12, Thompson 12, Pringle 12, Caperal 11, Chan 11, Devance 11, J. Aguilar 7, Tolentino 5, Tenorio 1, R. Aguilar 0, Balanza 0.
NLEX 92 – Quinahan 26, Alas 16, Cruz 11, Porter 9, Soyud 7, Ravena 6, Semerad 5, Miranda 4, Ighalo 3, Galanza 3, Ayonayon 2, Paniamogan 0.
Quarters: 31-22; 48-48; 83-75; 102-92.
