Aguilar drops 31 as Ginebra dismantles NorthPort for 2-0 semis lead
At A Glance
- Japeth Aguilar opened the scoring for Barangay Ginebra after soaring for a thunderous one-handed throw down. It turned out to be the prelude to what became an explosive showing for the veteran forward.
Japeth Aguilar opened the scoring for Barangay Ginebra after soaring for a thunderous one-handed throw down. It turned out to be the prelude to what became an explosive showing for the veteran forward.

Aguilar popped a season-high tying 31-point outing as Barangay Ginebra dismantled NorthPort anew, 119-106, in Game 2 of their semifinals series at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City on Friday, Feb. 28.
The Kings fired on all cylinders and built a lead that went to as high as 35 points before they fended off a fourth quarter fightback from the Batang Pier to take a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven affair.
Aguilar added eight rebounds to complete the impressive night with five other Ginebra players reaching double- igures in scoring. Jamie Malonzo seemed to be finally getting back to his top form firing 17 points built on three triples while Scottie Thompson added 16.
Jamie Malonzo seemed to be finally getting back to his top form firing 17 points built on three triples while Scottie Thompson added 16. Justin Brownlee had a double-double of 10 points and 11 assists for Ginebra which took a huge 68-39 lead at the break.
The Kings even padded the lead to 74-39 in the third frame largely and looked to be on their way to victory with head coach Tim Cone even fielding most of his bench players.
But the Batang Pier refused to go into the night silently and cut the lead down to 15 numerous times in the fourth. That, however, the closest they got from there on as Cone redeployed his starters.
Like in Game 1, Ginebra kept Arvin Tolentino in check, only finishing with 12 points. Kadeem Jack had 27 points and 10 rebounds while William Navarro added 23 and 12 but were not enough for the Batang Pier to overcome the huge deficit.