BARANGAY Ginebra regained its bearing three nights after its 49-point blowout by San Miguel Beer, keeping a slim shot at a top finish in the PBA Governors' Cup Group B play following a 112-96 spilling of Phoenix Wednesday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
RJ Abarrientos continued to dish out performances belying his being a young rookie, leading a well-spread Ginebra offense that netted the team a sixth win against three losses.
Coach Tim Cone and his troops gained outright spot in the top three with their repeat win over the Fuel Masters. They will have a possible shot at the top two if they close out their elims stint with a win over the NLEX Road Warriors on Sept. 22.
Abarrientos drained a fourth-pointer and three triples to highlight a 24-point sizzler as the Kings scored a dominant wire-to-wire victory to dash the remaining playoff hopes of the Fuel Masters.
Phoenix dropped to 1-8. Coach Jamike Jarin and his crew play their farewell game in the tourney versus the Road Warriors Friday.
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Japeth Aguilar fired 21 points, Scottie Thompson rifled in 20 while Justin Brownlee and Maverick Ahanmisi tossed in 13 and 12, respectively, as Ginebra duplicated its 110-101 win over Phoenix in their initial face-off on Sept. 6.
Ginebra improved to 6-3, half-game behind joint leader San Miguel Beer (6-2) and Rain or Shine (6-2).
Locked in a fight for fourth are Blackwater and NLEX both at 3-5.
The Beermen and the Elasto Painters duke it out in a virtual playoff duel for No. 1 spot Thursday also at the NAS. Both teams will then have the Blackwater Bossing as their final assignment in the elims.
Cone said they will do their best to take care of things in their control.
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They did that versus Phoenix, taking a spread by as big as 21 in the game they led from start to finish.
Jason Perkins and Sean Manganti scored 18 points apiece for Phoenix which drew 17 from Brandone Francis and 16 from Kai Ballungay. (SB)
The Scores :
GINEBRA 112 - Abarrientos 24, J.Aguilar 21, Thompson 20, Brownlee 13, Ahanmisi 12, Holt 9, R.Aguilar 4, Mariano 3, Pessumal 3, Adamos 2, Garcia 1, Tenorio 0, Pinto 0
PHOENIX 96 - Perkins 18, Manganti 18, Francis 17, Ballungay 16, Tuffin 9, Tio 6, Verano 4, Muyang 3, Soyud 3, Salado 2, Alejandro 0, Rivero 0, Ular 0, Jazul 0, Daves 0, Garcia 0
QUARTERS: 36-24, 61-45, 90-75, 112-96
