ANTIPOLO - A well-rested Eastern team brought down a weary Barangay Ginebra, 93-90, on Sunday night in the PBA 49th Season Commissioner's Cup at the Ynares Center.
The Hong Kong-based squad won their third straight game while coming off a five-day break, taking down another perennial title contender in a Ginebra side that played its third game in five days
READ Ginebra-Eastern clash evokes memories of Gin Kings' title run vs. Bay Area
Eastern had also beaten TNT, the Governors' Cup champion, in this current win streak. It will face another PBA powerhouse in the EASL in reigning Commissioner's Cup titlist San Miguel on Wednesday in Hong Kong.
Hayden Blankley bounced back from his woeful shooting in their previous win over Blackwater, pouring in 25 points on 9-for-14 shooting in his first match with Ginebra since losing the 2022-23 Commissioner’s Cup title while still with the Bay Area Dragons.
Chris McLaughlin had 20 points and 21 rebounds, as Ramon Cao chipped in 14 points for Eastern.
Head coach Mensur Bajramovic said it was a huge win on the part of Eastern, having to also overcome not only Ginebra but also its loud crowd at the Antipolo arena.
“We made a plan knowing that Ginebra is a good team. They have individual players and they have a good style offensively and defensively. We tried in the past few days to make a plan on how to play against them,” said Bajramovic.
“I’m happy the players believed and trust in the plan,” he added.
Ginebra appeared to show signs of fatigue from their grueling first week in the Commissioner’s Cup. The Gin Kings shot 43 percent from the field, including a 1-for-19 clip from three-point land.
Ginebra still had a shot to tie the game in the end but Scottie Thompson missed a corner three in the team’s last possession.
Japeth Aguilar had 26 points and eight rebounds, while Justin Brownlee had 18 points and 12 rebounds, but missed two out of three free throws late in the endgame to cut the gap to 88-83 instead of making it a one-possession game.
Prior to those missed free throws, Eastern went on a 5-0 run with Glen Yang capping it off with a jumper for an 88-80 lead with 2:48 left.
The scores:
Eastern 93 – Blankley 25, McLaughlin 20, Cao 14, Yang 11, Lam 8, Chan 6, Guinchard 5, Leung 3, Xu 1, Cheung 0, Zhu 0.
Barangay Ginebra 90 – J. Aguilar 26, Brownlee 18, Holt 14, Abarrientos 12, Rosario 12, Thompson 8, Cu 0, Adamos 0, Ahanmisi 0.
Quarters: 26-25; 54-44; 73-67; 93-90.
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