(UPDATED) MANILA, Philippines – LA Tenorio waxed hot for 27 points, 11 assists, and 5 rebounds to lead Barangay Ginebra to a 93-78 triumph over the TNT KaTropa for their second straight win in the 2018 PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, February 11.

Ginebra’s twin towers frolicked in the paint as Japeth Aguilar finished with 25 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks while Greg Slaughter churned out 20 points, 14 boards, 4 assists, and 2 blocks.

Ginebra improved to 5-4 to tie the NLEX Road Warriors at 5th place.

“LA was obviously awesome all night long. Japeth was making some brilliant passes to Greg, and we love seeing those two guys play together and play well together, passing to each other, helping each other out on defense. That’s the key to our success,” said Ginebra head coach Tim Cone.

The game was tied at 65-all early in the payoff period before Ginebra pulled away for good, outscoring the KaTropa 28-13 through the rest of the quarter. In that run, Tenorio, Aguilar and Slaughter combined for 19 points.

“We elevated our play in the second half. The guys really got focused in in the second half. A couple of balls went our way and before we know it, we had a double digit lead. It was kinda shocking,” Cone added.

Scottie Thompson made his presence felt for Ginebra with 9 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and two steals.

The Gin Kings lorded over the rebounding and assists department, tallying 56 boards and 25 assists to TNT’s 43 caroms and 14 dishes. They also shot a scintillating 48.8 percent from the field and 58.3 percent from long range.

Kelly Williams paced the KaTropa with 17 points and 15 rebounds while Jayson Castro also had 17 markers to go with 6 steals and 4 assists. Roger Pogoy added 16 points, 5 rebounds and two blocks in the loss.

TNT played without Troy Rosario, who is recovering from a bad fall he suffered during a 72-74 loss to the Phoenix Fuel Masters last February 7.

The KaTropa absorbed their second straight defeat and dropped to 8th place behind a 4-5 card.

The Scores:

Ginebra (93): Tenorio 27, J. Aguilar 25, Slaughter 20, Thompson 9, Cruz 6, Ferrer 6, R. Aguilar 0, Caguioa 0, Caperal 0, Mercado 0, Taha 0

TNT (78): Castro 17, Williams 17, Pogoy 16, Tautuaa 10, Garcia 8, Paredes 2, Reyes 2, Semerad 2, Tamsi 2, Torres 2, Carey 0, Golla  

Quarter scores: 22-18, 44-42, 63-62, 93-78

– Rappler.com