Abarrientos, Ginebra warm up for 'Clasico' with win over Meralco
At A Glance
- RJ Abarrientos put together his best performance so far in the season-ending conference, steering Barangay Ginebra to an 84-75 victory over Meralco to snap a two-game slide in the PBA Season 50 Governors' Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena on Friday, July 31.
RJ Abarrientos put together his best performance so far in the season-ending conference, steering Barangay Ginebra to an 84-75 victory over Meralco to snap a two-game slide in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena on Friday, July 31.
The best player of the last conference broke out of his shooting slump and fired 19 of his 27 points in the first half to set the tone for the Kings who pounced on the absence of some key players in the Bolts lineup.
Import Riley Grigsby also had his way with 25 points, nine rebounds, a steal and two blocks for the Kings who led by as many as 19 in the first two quarters and never looked back from there.
Ginebra improved to a 2-2 record while also getting the much-needed momentum ahead of its looming clash against bitter rival Magnolia in the first of two Manila Clasico meetings in the playoffs on Sunday.
Antonio Hester held the fort for Meralco with 24 points and 18 rebounds while Chris Banchero chipped in 15. Their efforts, however, went futile in the end as the Bolts struggled to find the mark with their conference low scoring and field goal percentage at 34 percent.
Meralco ended the first round with a 2-3 slate.