MANILA, Philippines – Tim Cone is rarely a man of few words.

But the way Barangay Ginebra lost to Meralco in the PBA Philippine Cup on Friday, March 15, left the usually articulate coach scrambling for what to say.

Off to a 2-0 start in the All-Filipino tiff, the Gin Kings were sent crashing back to earth as they absorbed a 91-73 beating from the Bolts – a defeat that saw the powerhouse team limited to its lowest scoring output of the season.

The only other time Ginebra was held under 80 points in a game this season was its 77-82 loss to Phoenix in the elimination round of the Commissioner’s Cup.

“Embarrassing. That’s all I’ve got to say,” Cone told reporters on his way to the exit of the Araneta Coliseum. “We’re just absolutely embarrassed from moment 1 to moment 10 – 48 minutes.”

Ginebra trailed 14-23 after the first quarter and never recovered as its deficit gradually grew, even reaching 31 points.

While Allein Maliksi and Chris Newsome dropped 25 and 19 points, respectively, for Meralco, no Gin Kings player breached 15 points.

Maverick Ahanmisi (14), Christian Standhardinger (13), and Japeth Aguilar (13) paced Ginebra, which missed the production of Jamie Malonzo as he turned in a season-low 4 points after averaging 24.5 points in the first two games.

A whopping 19 turnovers certainly did not help the Gin Kings’ cause.

“I don’t have answers to any questions. I don’t know what the hell happened,” said Cone. “It’s an embarrassing night.”

“We just hope this doesn’t define us.”

Still without injured star guard Scottie Thompson, Ginebra goes on a two-week break before it returns to action against Magnolia in another edition of the Clasico on March 31. – Rappler.com