Meralco played up to its character as a tough defensive team, but Barangay Ginebra found a bit of a rhythm in the second half and went on to pull off an 88-81 win in the opener of their PBA Commissioner's Cup best-of-three quarterfinal showdown at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Monday night.
The Kings overcame a defensive struggle and made it six in a row in a continued run after their woeful 1-5 start in the midseason tourney.
Joe Devance, LA Tenorio and Justin Brownlee hit the important baskets that eventually got the Gin Kings past the Bolts in the tough game marked by 11 deadlocks and nine lead changes.
And with the victory, the Kings now have two cracks to make the Final Four. They take their first shot at it at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday also at the Big Dome.
"Meralco has done a great job playing tough defense all conference, and they turned this game into a defensive struggle. We found it difficult to find rhythm but we got a little bit in the third and we carried it over to the fourth," said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.
Sponsored content:
"Justin (Brownlee) was a little rusty today and give Meralco the credit. He put up numbers but he's a volume shooter tonight," Cone also said.
Brownlee top scored with 25 points on 10-of-26 field shooting. He also came through with nine rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks against one error in 42 minutesof action.
Greg Slaughter, Joe Devance and Japeth Aguilar combined for 37 points, cushioning the impact of Arinze Onuaku's 18-rebound and 12-point performance.
"I expect to see lot more of Arinze in Game Two. He'll be a bigger presence in the next game," said Cone.
With their lockdown defense, the Bolts set the pace most of the first half, leading by seven, 45-38, at the turn before enjoying their biggest spread at 50-40.
Sponsored content:
But Ginebra grabbed the upper hand, 67-62, at the end of the third and hang on to the very end.
The Kings, though, were still holding a precarious lead, 84-79, before Brownlee knocked in a trey to eventually ward off the Bolts.
Before that, Devance and Tenorio had their own big shots.
Jeff Chan finally nailed a trey in a Ginebra uniform and finished with eight markers.(SB)
The scores:
BARANGAY GINEBRA 88 - Brownlee 25, Devance 14, Slaughter 13, Aguilar 10, Chan 8, Mercado 8, Ferrer 6, Tenorio 4, Thompson 0.
MERALCO 81 - Amer 15, Dillinger 13, Onuaku 12, Caram 11, De Ocampo 9, Lanete 8, Hodge 6, Canaleta 5, Newsome 2, Hugnatan 0.
Quarterscores: 22-20, 38-45, 67-62, 88-81.
