Meralco produced a second straight lopsided win over a San Miguel Corporation-owned ballclub Sunday after rolling past Barangay Ginebra 101-77 in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Meralco’s Allen Durham, Raymond Almazan and Allein Maliksi crowd Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s Justin Browlee during their PBA Governors’ Cup duel. (MB Photo/Rio Deluvio)
Allen Durham delivered 39 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists as the Bolts snapped Ginebra’s four-game winning run while gaining the third quarterfinals berth with a 6-2 record.
Rookie Bong Quinto had 13 points and five rebounds, Chris Newsome posted 11 points and nine rebounds while Raymond Almazan added 10 points and nine reboards in a fitting sequel to their 127-99 demolition of the San Miguel Beermen last Oct. 27.
The Bolts also moved a half-game behind co-leaders NLEX Road Warriors and TNT KaTropa, teams sporting identical 7-1 slates.
“AD (Durham) came out and gave us a really good job,” said Meralco coach Norman Black. “He really set the tone for us at the start of the game and the rest of his teammates followed.”
Justin Brownlee was held to 18 points, seven rebounds and three assists as Ginebra dropped to a tie for fourth spot with the Beermen at 5-3.
Ginebra holds the tiebreaker by virtue of its 129-124 win over SMB last Oct. 13.
LA Tenorio was the only other double-digit scorer for Ginebra with 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting.
The scores:
MERALCO 101 — Durham 39, Quinto 13, Newsome 11, Almazan 10, Amer 8, Caram 5, Pinto 5, Faundo 4, Hodge 2, Maliksi 2, Jackson 2, Salva 0, Jose 0, Jamito 0.
GINEBRA 77 — Brownlee 18, Tenorio 12, Pringle 8, Aguilar 8, Mariano 7, Thompson 6, Dela Cruz 6, Slaughter 5, Caguioa 4, Caperal 2, Sargent 1, Chan 0.
Quarters: 26-15; 53-32; 77-53; 101-77.