MERALCO snapped Barangay Ginebra's five-game winning streak with a 112-91 rout on Friday in the PBA 50th Season Commissioner's Cup at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
The Bolts came out firing and broke loose for good in a fiery second quarter, ending a two-game skid and moving into fourth position on a 6-3 win-loss record in front of a Labor Day crowd of 12,711 fans.
READ Cone not dwelling on Ginebra loss to Meralco as ROS comes next
Meralco outscored Ginebra, 29-13, by shooting 60 percent from the field and limiting its opponent to only 31 percent to get back in the race for one of four twice-to-beat incentives in the quarterfinals.
Ginebra lost for the first time since beating Converge, 99-93, last March 29.
CJ Cansino had 12 of his 18 points in the first half,and finished the game by shooting 7-of-9 from the field including a perfect 4-of-4 from twos.
Beating Ginebra by this much was the last thing in Meralco's mind.
“We didn't expect this, to beat Ginebra like this,” said Meralco coach Luigi Trillo. “I thought it was going to be a hard game. Probably something is going on with them. One-day preparation. Normally, they are better when they prepare longer.”
Marvin Jones also had 18 points while also hauling nine rebounds, and Chris Newsome had 12 points - eight coming in the first quarter to set the tone for the Bolts.
RJ Abarrientos had 24 points, while Justin Brownlee had 23 points, five rebounds, six assists, and three steals for Ginebra.
The scores:
Meralco 112 – Jones 18, Cansino 18, Newsome 12, Hodge 11, Quinto 11, Brickman 10, Banchero 10, Black 8, Bates 4, Magbuhos 3, Maliksi 3, Mocon 2, Rios 2, Pascual 0, Caram 0, Comia 0.
Barangay Ginebra 91 – Abarrientos 24, Brownlee 23, Thompson 8, Holt 8, Gray 8, Abis 6, Go 6, Rosario 4, Estil 2, Carino 2, Cu 0, Pinto 0, Torres 0.
Quarters: 31-27; 60-40; 90-65; 112-91.
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