BARANGAY Ginebra nailed a win in its first game without head coach Tim Cone this conference, beating Converge, 105-89, on Friday in the PBA 47th Season Philippine Cup at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Scottie Thompson topscored with 24 points including a three-pointer at the height of a 10-0 blast in the third quarter that enabled the Gins to pull away for good, 64-51, against a hard-fighting FiberXers side.
Japeth Aguilar and Christian Standhardinger each had a double-double and controlled the paint as Ginebra regained a share of the lead with San Miguel with a 5-1 win-loss record.
[See Last thing stand-in Ginebra coach wants to be is a Cone clone]
Ginebra did so with Cone out on a temporary leave from the team to join the Miami Heat NBA Summer League team as an assistant coach.
Cone’s assistant coach Richard Del Rosario stood in for Cone and the Gin Kings didn’t missed a step as they extended their winning streak to three games.
“We didn’t want to fall into the trap that we will take this team lightly,” said Del Rosario, whose team was coming off a huge win over San Miguel last week. “We played San Miguel tough because we get up for those games and then, all of a sudden, just because Converge is at the bottom of the standings, we take them lightly.”
“The players are veterans and they have championship experience. They know that these are the games that are important. I’m happy that the players responded,” said Del Rosario.
Aguilar tallied 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Standhardinger added 13 points and 13 rebounds for Ginebra, which grabbed an 84-67 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Converge fell to 2-5 after its second straight defeat.
Allyn Bulanadi finished with 16 points while Abu Tratter had 13 points and seven rebounds for Converge, which is still missing Jeron Teng due to an injury.
The scores:
Barangay Ginebra 105 – Thompson 24, J. Aguilar 20, Standhardinger 13, Pringle 11, Tenorio 9, Tolentino 9, Caperal 9, Pinto 8, Mariano 2, Dillinger 0, David 0.
Converge 89 – Bulanadi 16, Tratter 13, Ilagan 10, Ahanmisi 10, Racal 9, Ambohot 8, Adamos 7, Arana 6, Stockton 4, DiGregorio 3, Browne 3, Murrell 0, Tolomia 0, Hill 0.
Quarters: 21-22; 50-45; 80-65; 105-89.
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