MERALCO handed Barangay Ginebra a sound beating on Friday night, 91-73, to snap a two-game losing skid in the PBA 48th Season Philippine Cup at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
The Bolts displayed superb defense on their way to limiting the Gin Kings to one of their lowest scoring outputs in recent time on an atrocious 20-for-60 shooting.
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Meralco improved to 2-3, while dealing Ginebra its first defeat after three games.
Allein Maliksi bounced back with 25 points on 9-of-14 from the field after scoring just four in their previous outing against NorthPort.
Maliksi had 11 points in the third quarter alone, enabling Meralco to bring its lead to 31, 71-40, in the period.
Chris Newsome also helped the Bolts in the wire-to-wire victory, scoring 19 points, while Aaron Black added 12 points and seven rebounds.
“I think we did a good job defensively,” said Meralco coach Luigi Trillo. “I think we were sound on defense and we were able to run. We do have a running game.”
Ginebra slumped to its first loss as it continues to deal with the absence of Scottie Thompson due to a back injury.
“Maybe we also caught Ginebra a little bit in an off-night. No Scottie there. Iba rin talaga when Scottie is there,” said Trillo.
Maverick Ahanmisi had 14 points, while Japeth Aguilar and Christian Standhardinger had 13 points apiece for Ginebra, which only got four points for Jamie Malonzo on a 2-for-10 clip from the floor.
The scores:
Meralco 91 – Maliksi 25, Newsome 19, Black 12, Mendoza 8, Banchero 5, Hodge 4, Quinto 4, Pasaol 4, Almazan 3, Caram 2, Rios 2, Pascual 2, Dario 1, Torres 0.
Barangay Ginebra 73 – Ahanmisi 14, J. Aguilar 13, Standhardinger 13, David 8, Onwubere 6, Pessumal 5, Malonzo 4, Tenorio 3, Pringle 2, Gumaru 2, R. Aguilar 2, Pinto 1, Cu 0.
Quarters: 23-14; 46-27; 76-52; 91-73.
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