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SERVICES
THE INQUIRER COMPANY
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04
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26
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2024
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SERVICES
THE INQUIRER COMPANY
04
26
2024
PBA IMAGES
The best for Barangay Ginebra and the worst for San Miguel Beer.
The Gin Kings stopped the Beermen on their tracks, fashioning out a dominant 110-84 victory to secure an outright quarterfinals entry in the Oppo PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Sunday night.
LA Tenorio joined the league’s elite 5,000-point club at the 6:02 mark of the first period, and the Gin Kings made the night more meaningful with their decisive conquest of the Beermen that handed them the third berth in the post-elims play.
Dishing out its best game in the season, Ginebra thoroughly defeated San Miguel despite the return of June Mar Fajardo and Arwind Santos.
The Gin Kings dominated the Beermen through the last three quarters on the way to a sixth win against four losses.
The Beermen came out stiff and rusty from a five-game breather and suffered their worst loss under coach Leo Austria. SMB, however, stays well on course for a quarters entry and even a Top Two finish with a 5-3 slate.
“We caught San Miguel at the right time – for us – obviously,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone of their most lopsided triumph in the season
Tenorio helped set the tone of the match early with his personal feat. The heady playmaker became the 80th member of the 5,000-point club, 18th among active players and only the 11th point guard in PBA history.
Japeth Aguilar and Chris Ellis nearly outscored the entire SMB team as the duo hit giant strides in the second quarter and carried the Kings to a 52-36 halftime lead.
Aguilar fired away 11 points while Ellis piled up 10 markers to fuel Ginebra’s mighty charge from a 16-14 edge at the start of the second period.
Ellis grabbed a rebound on one end then scored on a jumper on the other end, capping a 10-to-nothing run that gave Ginebra its first double-digit spread at 30-19.
The Kings’ lead grew as big as 22 at 58-36 before San Miguel waged a chase and came to within nine, 52-61, midway through the third.
But that proved to be the Beermen’s most significant run in their terrible night.
For the record, SMB hadn’t lost by a double-digit margin since an 84-99 defeat at the hands of Rain or Shine last Nov. 4.
Under Austria, San Miguel lost by at least 20 just once against TNT, 93-113, on March 18 last year.
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