Barangay Ginebra defeated Converge 85-66 on Saturday in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center, led by Japeth Aguilar, who finished with 23 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks ahead of his teammate Kabalen. 

Originating from Sasmuan, Pampanga, Aguilar scored 11 points in the second quarter as the Gin Kings took their largest lead of the game, 39–20, which they never let go of to improve their win–loss record to 3-2.

The Gin Kings also recovered from last Wednesday’s three-point defeat at the hands of NLEX.
Converge lost after trailing 23–13 at the end of the first period, ending their three-game winning streak and dropping to 4–3 after playing catch-up the entire time.

The game might be seen as the FiberXers’ home game given the number of figures from the Converge camp, which has its origins in Pampanga under the leadership of Governor Dennis Pineda.

After making a basket with less than three minutes remaining in the game, Aguilar later suffered cramps, and the outcome was already decided.

Ginebra made an excellent defense

Tim Cone, the coach of Barangay Ginebra, praised the defense against Converge, which ended Justin Arana’s five-game double-double streak after he finished with nine points and eleven rebounds and eight points from Alec Stockton.

Together, the two made 7 of 20 field goals.

“We felt we didn’t play a very good defensive game against NLEX the last time out. We were determined to clean up some stuff. I thought we played a lot more detailed game this time around which was important for us,” the veteran Coach Tim Cone said.

“That’s what is going to get us to the playoffs and make us play well there. We really had a good effort in terms of paying attention to detail tonight, and I thought that was the one that struck me most because we knew we had to be very detailed against this team because they have very obvious strengths in terms of Arana, Baltazar, Stockton, and Winston,” the Coach added.

RJ Abarrientos scored 14 points and pulled down five rebounds for the Gin Kings, while Scottie Thompson contributed 15 points.

MJ Garcia, a fellow Kapampangan, scored 12 points in a loss for the FiberXers, while Justine Baltazar finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and two rebounds in his debut PBA game in Pampanga.

The Scores

Barangay Ginebra 85 – J. Aguilar 23, Thompson 15, Abarrientos 14, Holt 12, Malonzo 9, Rosario 7, David 3, Adamos 2, Pinto 0, Mariano 0, R. Aguilar 0, Cu 0.

Converge 66 – Baltazar 13, Garcia 12, Arana 9, Stockton 8, Ambohot 7, Winston 4, Delos Santos 4, Suerte 3, Racal 3, Nermal 2, Corpuz 1, Caralipio 0, B. Santos 0, R. Santos 0.

Quarter scores: 23-13; 50-34; 67-54; 85-66.