A well-rested Eastern team foiled Barangay Ginebra's bid for a third win in five nights, defeating the weary Gin Kings, 93-90, in the PBA Commissioner's Cup at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo Sunday.
Hayden Blankley and his teammates took control most of the way but barely escaped in the end as Scottie Thompson missed a make-or-break three-point try at the buzzer.
Coach Mensur Bajramovic and his crew rolled to a third straight win and climbed to second spot at 5-1 in dealing the Kings a first loss in three starts.
And with Ginebra bowing to Eastern, NorthPort was left as the lone team with a perfect slate at 5-0.
The Batang Pier go for win No. 6 as they tangle with the winless Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters (0-4) Tuesday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
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Meanwhile, the Kings get a two-day breather before returning to play against the Terrafirma Dyip also at NAS Wednesday.
The Kings went down in the defeat and, worse, saw Japeth Aguilar limp out of the floor in the last seconds.
The 6-foot-9 Ginebra center/forward was jumping out of Eastern defensive screen when he reacted badly, holding to his groin.
And he failed to finish the game where he top scored for the Gin Kings with 26 points on top of eight rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocks.
Justin Brownlee struggled badly with a 6-of-23 field clip, going 0-of-4 on four balls and 0-of-6 from the three-point arc. He finished with just 18 markers and 12 boards.
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Eastern import Chris McLaughlin, on the other hand, collected 20 points and 21 rebounds plus six assists, two blocks and one steal against two turnovers as he stayed perfect (3-0) since taking over from Cam Clark.
Blankley led the Eastern scoring parade with 25 as Ramon Cao scored 14 and Glen Yang added 11.(SB)
The scores:
Eastern 93 - Blankley 25, McLaughlin 20, Cao 14, Yang 11, Lam 8, Chan 6, Guinchard 5, Leung 3, Xu 1, Zhu 0.
Barangay Ginebra 90 - J. Aguilar 26, Brownlee 18, Holt 14, Abarrientos 12, Rosario 12, Thompson 8, Cu 0, Adamos 0, Ahanmisi 0.
Quarterscores: 26-25, 54-44, 73-67, 93-90
