by Jonas Terrado
Games Sunday (Smart Araneta Coliseum)
4:30 p.m. — Phoenix vs Rain or Shine
6:45 p.m. — San Miguel vs Magnolia
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel asserted its height advantage on Blackwater and cruised to an 85-67 rout to climb into solo third Saturday night in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Davao del Sur Coliseum in Digos City.
Japeth Aguilar played as if he was not coming off an ankle injury and delivered 20 points, nine rebounds and three steals and Greg Slaughter posted 17 points, six rebounds and two blocks to power the Kings to their second straight win.
Scottie Thompson dazzled in front of his hometown fans in the Petron Saturday Special affair with 16 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and two steals and Kevin Ferrer put up 14 points for Ginebra which improved to 3-2.
The presence of Aguilar and Slaughter and Thompson’s high-leaping ability enabled the Kings to outrebound the smaller Elite, 63-51.
Rookie Abu Tratter and Chris Javier combined for 15 boards but Blackwater had a hard time winning the rebounding match, allowing Ginebra to lead by a high of 24.
Blackwater fell near the bottom of the standings at 1-5.
Meanwhile, the battle between the league’s top two teams and a rematch of last year’s finals will give fans a double treat at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Phoenix Pulse stakes its unbeaten slate and hold on the solo lead against second-ranked Rain or Shine in the 4:30 p.m. opener before defending four-time champion San Miguel Beer battles Magnolia at 6:45 p.m.
A sixth straight victory is what Phoenix aims to secure against a Rain or Shine squad that has won its last three matches.
The Fuel Masters almost got a taste of defeat for the first time this conference when they escaped past the NLEX Road Warriors, 83-82, on Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Scores:
Ginebra 85 – Aguilar 20, Slaughter 17, Thompson 16, Ferrer 14, Dela Cruz 5, Mercado 4, Caperal 3, Cruz 3, Chan 2, Mariano 1, Tenorio 0, R. Aguilar 0, Devance 0, Teodoro 0.
Blackwater 67 – Digregorio 14, Eriobu 14, Tratter 13, Desiderio 7, Palma 6, Sumang 4, Belo 3, Alolino 2, Sena 2, Jose 2, Jose 2, Cortez 0, Dario 0, Maliksi 0.
Quarters: 22-12, 44-28, 68-46, 85-67.
