Barangay Ginebra took care of business even without head coach Tim Cone as it routed Converge, 105-89, in the PBA Philippine Cup Friday night, July 1 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Scottie Thompson led all scorers with 24 points on an 8-of-13 shooting along with six rebounds and six assists as the Gin Kings now share an identical record of 4-1 with the Blackwater Elite.
Japeth Aguilar also posted 20 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocks while Christian Standhardinger and Stanley Pringle had 13 and 11 points, respectively.
The Gin Kings led by as many as 15 points heading into the payoff period before the FiberXers attempted for a late comeback but to no avail.
The gap was too much to overcome for Converge even as Taylor Browne’s three-pointer cut the deficit by 11 points, 84-73.
The FiberXers couldn’t put a stop to the Gin Kings’ scoring barrage down the stretch behind the efforts of Thompson, Standhardinger, and Arvin Tolentino.
“Para kasing ano, it could be a recipe for disaster. Of course, Converge coming from a tough loss and kami naman coming off a big win against the same team (San Miguel) so we didn’t want to fall into that trap na we’ll take this team (Converge) lightly,” said Ginebra assistant coach Richard Del Rosario, who replaced Cone for the meantime while busy doing his coaching assignments with the Miami Heat in the NBA Summer League.
“I’m just happy that the players responded maganda ‘yong naging laro nila.”
Allyn Bulanadi spearheaded the FiberXers with 16 points and four assists while Abu Tratter and Maverick Ahanmisi chipped in 13 and 10 points each.
Converge, for its part, fell to a 2-4 record alongside NorthPort.
The Scores:
GINEBRA 105 – Thompson 24, J.Aguilar 20, Standhardinger 13, Pringle 11, Caperal 9, Tolentino 9, Pinto 8, Tenorio 7, Dillinger 0, David 0
CONVERGE 89 – Bulanadi 16, Tratter 13, Ahanmisi 10, Ilagan 10, Racal 9, Ambohot 8, Adamos 7, Arana 6, Stockton 4, DiGregorio 3, Browne 3, Tolomia 0, Murrell 0
QUARTERS: 21-22, 50-45, 80-65, 105-89