Ginebra dominates PH Cup champs San Miguel for first win

MANILA, Philippines — On the third try, they finally clicked.

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel showed none of the dark shadows that plagued them in their first two games, clicking on all cylinders from tip-off to grab their first win and deal champs San Miguel Beermen their second straight loss, 95-82, in the 2015 PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Sunday, February 8 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Michael Dunigan topscored with 29 points and 13 rebounds for the Gin Kings, which avoided an 0-3 hole to start the conference, while the Beermen have yet to find its rhythm following a shock loss to expansion team KIA last Wednesday.

“I think we did the right thing. (We did) what we do in practice,” said head coach Ato Agustin in Filipino.

“Every time someone interviews me on why our first two games were like that, I say it’s because we’re not doing what we’re doing in practice. Today even the defense is good. And I think even our running game came out.”

Ginebra was everything they were hyped up to be Sunday night, running, gunning, posterizing, and dominating the paint with their big men.

Greg Slaughter came up with 18 points on 7-of-9 field goal shooting along with 4 rebounds. Veteran Mark Caguioa was not far behind with 17 markers and 5 rebounds as Ginebra scored 60 of their points from the paint, while San Miguel had just 30 from that area.

Fastbreak points also went the way of the Gin Kings, 16-4.

“Ngayon medyo kumpiyansa kami ngayon kasi maganda yung offense and defense namin,” Caguioa said. (Now we’re more confident because we played good offense and defense.)

After the Beermen briefly took the lead in the third, 62-61, the Gin Kings went on a tear offensively and kept making the right shots at the right time to keep their foes at bay.

Whether it was a bucket on the break from Caguioa to push Ginebra to a double-digit lead, 82-71, with 7:51 left in the game, a Tenorio jumper for a comfortable 91-77 advantage heading into the final 3 minutes, or another Caguioa make on the drive for the team’s biggest lead at 93-77 with just over a minute remaining, Ginebra stayed the course.

“I think the reason is we started well. We started strong in this game,” Agustin said.

Ronald Roberts led all Beermen with 32 points and 14 rebounds, while Chris Lutz and Marcio Lassiter finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Reigning PBA Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo was limited to just 9 points and 13 boards, as last conference’s Finals MVP Arwind Santos went 3-of-13 for just 6 points. 

– Rappler.com