By JAY R. GOTERA
MANILA — The Barangay Ginebra Kings cooled down the streaking Star Hotshots with a resounding 113-98 victory in the 2017 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Sunday night, snapping the Hotshots’ four-game unbeaten run.
The Kings thus improved to a 2-1 win-loss record as the Hotshots slipped to 4-1.
The result left the San Miguel Beermen as the only undefeated team in the conference.
Six-foot-five Justin Brownlee, the shortest import in the conference, showed his lack of ceiling over the other imports was no problem as he led Ginebra with 30 points, scoring 21 of them in the second half. He also collected a team-high 15 rebounds, six assists, four blocks, and two steals with zero turnover in 40 minutes.
LA Tenorio was the top local scorer for Ginebra with 21 points on 9-for-14 shooting while Sol Mercado added 15 off the bench, including eight in the fourth quarter when the Kings started to pull away.
Japeth Aguilar tallied 12 points along with six boards, and two blocks, while Scottie Thompson chipped in eight markers, seven boards, and four assists.
The game was a rematch of this season’s Philippine Cup semifinal series that went the distance with Ginebra emerging as the winner.
Just like in that series, the two sister teams engaged in a fierce fight all the way to the delight of the more than 13,000 fans that filled the Mall of Asia Arena.
Import Tony Mitchell led the Hotshots with 21 points, nine boards, two blocks, and two assists, while Allein Maliksi added 17 markers. However, Ginebra’s defenders held him scoreless in the final quarter.
Paul Lee, who was held scoreless in the first half, finished with 11 markers, including half of Star’s 10-0 blast in the third quarter that gave Star a 12-point advantage before the Kings came up with a decisive 23-4 run led by Thompson en route to victory.
TNT KaTropa 86, Mahindra 84
Just like in their last game, the TNT KaTropa Texters flirted with defeat before slipping past the Mahindra Floodbuster, 86-84.
The Texters led for most parts of the game but had to grind out the win in the face of a relentless assault by the Floodbuster in the endgame.
TNT thus notched a fourth straight win for a 4-1 mark while Mahindra suffered a third straight defeat to fall to a 1-5 record.
Import Donte Greene finally showed his offensive might, finishing with 24 points, including 11 in the final period, to along with 14 boards.
Troy Rosario scored 11 points on 4 of 5 shooting from the field while Jayson Castro added 10 markers and seven assists.
Mahindra came back from a nine-point deficit at halftime to briefly grab the lead in the payoff period. The Texters, however, came charging back to pull off the win.
Import Keith Wright led the Floobuster with 26 points and 13 rebounds. LA Revilla tallied 20 markers while Alex Mallari added 17 points and 11 boards.
Games Wednesday: NLEX Road Warriors (0-5) vs. GlobalPort Batang Pier (0-4) and Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (3-2) vs. Phoenix Fuel Masters (2-3).
