MANILA, Philippines – Barangay Ginebra prides itself on its defense and it showed in its latest win in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
The Gin Kings clamped down on pesky Phoenix in the fourth quarter and scored a rousing 94-72 victory at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Friday, December 13.
Five players scoring in double figures highlighted Ginebra’s reliable offense, but it was on defense where the Gin Kings shone brighter as they contained the Fuel Masters to just 7 fourth-quarter points to improve to 2-0.
Trailing by just 6 points at the end of the third period, 65-71, Phoenix fired blanks in the final frame, where it shot 3-of-24 (12.5%) from the field, including 0-of-7 from three-point land and 0-of-3 from four-point range.
“We’re a defensive team first. We will tolerate offensive mistakes but defense is more of effort and knowledge. Our expectations are always higher for us defensively than we are offensively,” said Ginebra head coach Tim Cone.
“We feel we’re going to make shots on some nights, and some nights, we’re not going to make shots. We don’t have control over that, but the effort and the focus that we put on defense, we can control that every night.”
Scottie Thompson paced the Gin Kings with 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals, Japeth Aguilar put up 16 points and 6 rebounds, Troy Rosario had 14 points, while RJ Abarrientos chalked up 12 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds.
The balanced scoring and the sizable lead in the fourth quarter allowed Ginebra import Justin Brownlee to get an early rest.
Brownlee finished with 10 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals in just 32 minutes of action, sitting out the final five minutes of the game.
Import Donovan Smith produced a 20-point, 15-rebound double-double in the loss that kept the Fuel Masters among the only two winless teams in the league alongside Terrafirma (0-5).
Phoenix led by as many as 8 points, 18-10, and entered the break with a 48-47 edge but scored just 24 points combined in the second half as it absorbed its fourth straight defeat.
Kenneth Tuffin and Jason Perkins posted 15 and 10 points, respectively, in the losing effort.
Barangay Ginebra 94 – Thompson 17, J. Aguilar 16, Rosario 14, Abarrientos 12, Brownlee 10, Cu 8, Holt 5, Ahanmisi 5, Pinto 5, Mariano 2, Adamos 0, Pessumal 0, R. Aguilar 0.
Phoenix 72 – Smith 20, Tuffin 15, Perkins 10, Tio 7, Ballungay 7, Rivero 4, Manganti 4, Verano 3, Salado 2, Alejandro 0, Jazul 0, Camacho 0, Garcia 0, Soyud 0, Ular 0.
Quarters: 23-28, 47-48, 71-65, 94-72.
– Rappler.com
