MANILA – Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings overcame a slow start to defeat NorthPort Batang Pier, 100-93, in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Earl Scottie Thompson had a near triple-double numbers of 23 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists. Nard John Pinto chipped in conference-high 18 points as the Kings snapped its two-game slide to improve to 7-3.
Japeth Aguilar chipped in 14 markers and eight rebounds, while LA Tenorio and Negrense Jeffrei Chan contributed 13 and 11 markers, respectively, and Christian Standhardinger had nine points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Gin Kings.
Down by as much as 11 points in the second quarter, the Gin Kings slowly clawed its way back behind triples by Pinto and inside conversions from Thompson and Chan to take a 47-42 lead at the half.
Barangay Ginebra continued its run in the second half as the lead reached its largest at 22 points. NorthPort made its last push at 89-94 via triples by Robert Bolick but consecutive layups by Thompson and Chan sealed the win for the Kings.
Bolick ended with conference-high 29 points, including eight three-point conversions, Jamie Malonzo added 19 markers, while Arwind Santos and Kevin Ferrer had 14 and 13 as the Batang Pier dropped to 3-7.
In the curtain raiser, Allein Maliksi caught fire when it mattered the most as Meralco Bolts (6-4) cruised to a come-from-behind 89-86 victory over top-seed San Miguel Beermen (9-2).
Trailing 79-82 with over three minutes left, Maliksi connected a triple to tie the score at 82-all before knocking down another outside shot to surge the Bolts ahead at 85-83 with under a minute left.
Aaron Black widened Meralco’s lead to 88-83 with another trey with under a minute left. Jaymar Perez trimmed the deficit for SMB at 86-88 but could not send the game into overtime.
Maliksi finished the game with 18 points, including four outside conversions, to go with eight rebounds while Chris Newsome and Black added 16 and 15 points, respectively, for the Bolts.
BOX SCORE:
GINEBRA 100 – Thompson 23, Pinto 18, J. Aguilar 14, Tenorio 13, Chan 11, Standhardinger 9, Pringle 8, Mariano 4, Dillinger 0.
NORTHPORT 93 – Bolick 29, Malonzo 19, Santos 14, Ferrer 13, Taha 6, Balanza 6, Sumang 4, Calma 2, Ayaay 0, Dela Cruz 0.
Quarterscores: 20-26, 47-42, 80-60, 100-93./PN
