Meralco import Johnny O’Bryant finds himself in trouble against three Barangay Ginebra defenders in their PBA Commissioners’ Cup game at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. The Gin Kings defeated the Bolts, 99-91. Photo by Ernie Sarmiento
Kings finally show up vs Bolts
THE real Barangay Ginebra Kings finally showed up in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Sunday.
The result?
A morale-boosting 99-91 win over old rival Meralco Bolts at the Smart Araneta Coliseum
Still smarting from a disappointing 71-93 setback to Rain or Shine in their conference debut last Wednesday, the Kings played aggressively throughout against the Bolts in posting their forst win of the import-flavored conference
Best Import Justin Brownlee and Scottie Thompson led the bounce-back effort of Ginebra.
Brownlee exploded with 34 points — 14 points more than his 20-point production against Rain or Shine, while Thompson added 15 points after being held to a 0-of-4 shooting by the Elasto Painters.
Brownlee also added five rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Thompson contributed nine rebounds and nine assists.
“”We just went back to basics and to the foundation of our game. It’s a fun game and it feels good to get to the win-column,” said Brownlee in an interview posted at the official PBA website.
Dsid Thompson: “As a team, dami pa kaming kailangan i-improve. Individually, binigay ko lang ang best ko.”
Four other players — Stanley Pringle (16), Jamie Malonzo (10), Japeth Aguilar (10) and Christian Standhardinger (10) — also contributed in double figures for Ginebra.
“We’re certainly stunned (by the 22-point blowout by ROS). Nobody in the locker room thought we’d got beat by 22 points, and it’s something we talked about, and it provided us a wakeup call,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.
Johnny O’Bryant finished with 31 points and 16 rebounds for Meralco, wbich played.minus Chris Newsome.
Meralco coach Norman Black said the team is still waiting for the result of the MRI test on Newsome’s sore calf.
Allein Maliksi added 20 markers, Aaron Black had 14 and Raymond Almazan had 10 points and 11 rebounds in a losinh effort.
The scores:
Ginebra 99 – Brownlee 34, Pringle 16, Thompson 15, J.Aguilar 10, Malonzo 10, Standhardinger 10, Tenorio 4, Pessumal 0.Meralco 91 – O’Bryant 31, Maliksi 20, Black 14, Almazan 10, Pasaol 9, Quinto 3, Hodge 2, Banchero 2, Caram 0, Hugnatan 0.Quarterscores: 26-22, 49-41, 73-65, 99-91.
