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EVEN inside the bubble, Barangay Geneva has the number of Meralco.
The Gin Kings remained undefeated at the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup after beating perennial final rival Meralco, 105-91, on Sunday at the Angeles University Foundation Cultural Center and Sports Stadium.
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The Gin Kings ‘and Bolts’ first meeting inside the league bubble was no different from their last meeting in the 2019 Governors Cup when Finals MVP Japeth Aguilar picked up where he left off in that series of titles in last January.
Stanley Pringle, Jeff Chan and Arvin Tolentino also performed well on a night Mark Caguioa made league history when the Gin Kings improved to 3-0 in wins and losses to earn first place shared with TNT and Rain or Shine. .
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But it was the Geneva defense that made manager Tim Cone proud.
“I just thought tonight was a great defensive effort,” Cone said. “We played great defense. I thought we did a very good job on his pick-and-roll and we didn’t have many breakdowns.
“Because there are so few breakdowns, we were forcing a lot of difficult shots, getting rebounds, and we were creating a lot in our offense outside of our defense. I thought that was the best part for me. I love watching our team play defense like that.” .
Aguilar scored 20 points in his best game since he was late for the league bubble, while Pringle added 16 points and seven rebounds. Chan scored 12, and Tolentino dumped 11 for Barangay Ginebra.
After a 20-20 draw at the end of a quarter, Geneva began to part ways with Meralco behind Pringle, who scored seven points in the second quarter to lead his team to a 51-39 lead at the half.
Tolentino’s four-point play sent Guinevere to a 65-50 lead.
Once the match was out of reach, Cone put Caguioa in for his first official match in his 18th consecutive season with Geneva, the longest tenure by a single-team PBA player, beating Alvin Heritage of Purefoods and Harvey Carey of TNT (17).
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Allein Maliksi and Reynel Hugnatan contributed 18 and 16 points each as the Bolts fell to 1-2.
Scores:
Barangay Ginebra 105 – J. Aguilar 20, Pringle 16, Chan 12, Tolentino 11, Caperal 9, Mariano 8, Thompson 7, Tenorio 6, Devance 6, Dillinger 5, Balanza 3, Caguioa 2, Salado 0, R. Aguilar 0.
Meralco 91 – Maliksi 18, Hugnatan 16, Amer 10, Newsome 10, Jackson 6, Almazan 6, Black 5, Hodge 5, Quinto 4, Jamito 4, Jose 3, Pinto 2, Caram 2, Salva 0.
Quarters: 20-20; 51-39; 74-60; 105-91.
