MANILA – Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings renewed its mastery of San Miguel Beermen with a 110-102 victory in the 2018 PBA Governors’ Cup on Sunday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Justin Brownlee led the defending champions to a 4-1 status with 29 points, 19 rebounds and seven assists, as Aljon Mariano and Joe Devance contributed 20 and 17 points, respectively.
In the first game, Phoenix Fuel Masters rode on another impressive showing by import Eugene Phelps as they scored 95-82 over Magnolia Hotshots for a 5-1 start, their best in franchise history.
San Miguel and Ginebra were shorthanded heading into the game. The Kings missed six players – led by Gregory Slaughter, Solomon Mercado and Japeth Aguilar – while the Beermen played sans June Mar Fajardo and Marcio Lassiter.
In their first meeting since their epic Commissioner’s Cup finals, the teams got into a nip and tuck battle until the Kings gained some headway early in the fourth quarter 79-70 on shots from Brownlee and Mariano.
San Miguel countered with a huge run to cut the deficit 84-85. Ginebra then raised their edge via a 10-2 run behind Devance and Mariano for an 11-point lead, their largest in the game.
Christian Standhardinger made 25 points and 11 rebounds to head the Beermen offense while Arwind Santos and Chris Ross chipped in with 22 and 18 points, respectively, as they dropped to 2-2.
A game prior, the Fuel Masters had a strong start and went up by as much as 13 points in the opening half but the Hotshots countered with a huge second quarter scoring to force a 48-all deadlock.
It was a seesaw battle since then, with the Fuel Masters clinging to a slim 75-72 advantage before unloading a 7-0 scoring run behind Phelps, Matthew Wright, LA Revilla, and Calvin Abueva for an 87-75 edge with three minutes left.
Phelps finished the game with double-double 36 points and 20 rebounds, while Wright and Justin Chua had 13 and 12 points, respectively, for the Fuel Masters. Romeo Travis top-scored for Hotshots (2-1) with 28 points and 19 rebounds./PN
