Stanley Pringle scored 19 points, while Christian Standhardinger added 11 points and 19 rebounds as defending champion Barangay Ginebra San Miguel claimed its first win with a 96-81 beating on Blackwater Bossing in the 46th PBA Season Philippine Cup at the Ynares Arena in Pasig City.
Pringle and Standhardinger joined hands with veteran guard LA Tenorio in the fourth quarter when the Kings took control of the game after the Bossing came back in the third period.
From a slim 69-67 advantage, Ginebra took a 77-68 lead on two free throws by Standhardinger with 8:56 to play. The last time Blackwater threatened was when it trimmed the deficit to 79-77 with 6:12 left.
Tenorio, who scored eight of his 17 points in the final frame, buried a three-point basket that gave the Kings an 82-77 lead. After a Tenorio jumper, he set up forward Japeth Aguilar for a dunk – for his seventh assists – to pad their lead to 86-77 with 3:49 to go.
Aguilar finished with 14 points, while Prince Caperal came off the bench to contribute 16 points and 11 rebounds. Scottie Thompson chipped in 11 points and nine boards.
Early in the game, the 6-foot-10 Aguilar’s first basket which gave Ginebra a 7-4 advantage with 4:15 to play in the first quarter made him the 89th local and 93rd member overall of the PBA’s 5,000-Point Club.
Aguilar is also the 12th to accomplish it in a Ginebra uniform.
It was a big bounce back victory for Ginebra after dropping its season opener to NLEX 94-75 last Sunday.
Blackwater, which got 22 points from Mike Tolomia and 16 points from Simon Enciso, fell to 0-3.
The Scores:
GINEBRA 96 – Pringle 19, Tenorio 17, Caperal 16, Aguilar 14, Thompson 11, Standhardinger 11, Chan 5, Dillinger 2, Salado 1, Tolentino 0, Enriquez 0, Aguilar 0, Holmqvist 0, Ayaay 0.
BLACKWATER 81 – Tolomia 22, Enciso 16, Nabong 11, Magat 8, Daquioag 6, Desiderio 6, Amer 5, Paras 4, Semerad 2, Canaleta 2, Dennison 0, Torralba 0, Acuno0, Escoto 0, Gabriel 0.
Quarters: 21-13; 45-32; 69-67; 96-81.