MANILA – Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings rode on the clutch hits of Japeth Aguilar to score a 104-98 victory over NorthPort Batang Pier in the 2018 PBA Governors’ Cup on Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
After seeing their lead as high as 19 points trimmed to 95-98 with over a minute left, Aguilar came to the rescue of the Kings with 4 straight conversions to put the game away at 104-97.
Aguilar finished the match with 23 points and nine rebounds for the two-time defending champion Ginebra (3-0), which surged to solo first place in the standings.
Justin Brownlee finished with near triple-double of 27 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, while Greg Slaughter and LA Tenorio contributed 18 markers apiece.
In the first game, Blackwater Elite battled back from a double-digit deficit to score a 103-100 upset against San Miguel Beermen for its second straight win.
Ginebra had a strong start behind Brownlee, Slaughter and Kevin Ferrer for a 33-15 lead. NorthPort rallied to within 27-33 but the Kings managed to pull away anew 57-41 at the half with conversions from Tenorio.
The Batang Pier slowly clawed their way back in the third period behind Stanley Pringle and Rashad Woods to come to within 58-65. They pulled even closer 95-98 with over a minute left before Aguilar salvaged the Kings with 4 straight inside hits.
Pringle returned to action from his Team Philippines duty in the 2018 Asian Games with 34 points while Woods added 28 points and 11 rebounds for NorthPort (0-4).
A game prior, the Elite trailed by as much as 10 points in the third quarter until they surged in the fourth behind John Paul Erram, Henry Walker and Nard John Pinto for a 101-95 edge.
The Beermen came up with 5 straight points from Marcio Lassiter to trim the deficit 100-101. Two free throws by Erram extended the Elite’s lead to 103-100 before they went on a tight defense to seal the victory.
Walker led the Elite with double-double 35 points and 17 rebounds while Michael Digregorio and Pinto added 21 and 15 points, respectively. Arizona Reid headed the scoring for San Miguel (1-1) with 26 points and 20 rebounds./PN
