MANILA - Ginebra used a huge turnaround in the final 17 minutes of the game to score a 106-82 blowout win against Terrafirma in their PBA Philippine Cup showdown on Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. Japeth Aguilar showed why he is currently one of the league's top two-way players, coming just close to matching a career-high in blocks even as he led the Gin Kings in scoring against the Dyip, who fizzled late in the game after threatening to pull off a major upset. Behind a strong second quarter and a solid start to the third quarter, Terrafirma looked poised to make Ginebra its first victim in the conference after taking a 71-64 lead with 5:18 left in the third. However, the Gin Kings pulled away for good after finishing the third on an 18-1 run coupled with a 24-10 fourth-quarter domination. Aguilar finished with 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting, six rebounds, three assists, and seven blocks, one shy of his career-high of eight, to lead Ginebra, which tied
NorthPort's Arwind Santos is now a member of PBA's 10,000 Points Club. (Photo courtesy of PBA Image) MANILA - San Miguel broke loose in the fourth quarter to clip NorthPort, 122-106, in their Philippine Cup battle on Saturday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. The Beermen spoiled Arwind Santos' formal entry to the elite 10,000 Points Club as they clobbered the Batang Pier in the endgame after a close encounter in the first 36 minutes of the game. Needing only 13 points to break the 10,000-point barrier, Santos scored on a jumper with 11:24 left in the third quarter, his 14th in the contest, to become only the 17th member of the elite scoring group and the only one among the active players this PBA Philippine Cup. However, SMB still had the last laugh after outscoring NorthPort, 40-24, in the final period to pull away for good. June Mar Fajardo and Robbie Herndon each scored 21 points to lead the Beermen, who are once again solo first placers in the team sta
MANILA - Rain or Shine (ROS) completed a late rally to steal a 79-77 win from debuting Converge right at the start of the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City on Sunday night. In the opening game for the league's 47th season, ROS preserved an endgame push with crucial plays on both ends of the floor to emerge victorious despite Converge stifling them on offense. Down 66-73 with 3:31 left, the E-Painters launched a 9-0 run to go up, 77-75, with 1:37 to play. The FiberXers responded with four straight points including a go-ahead layup from Jeron Teng with 23.4 seconds remaining. However, Beau Belga scored what would be the game-winning three with 13.4 seconds left to give ROS a 78-77 lead. Santi Santillan then performed a tough defense on his fellow former La Salle star Teng, forcing the latter to a tough pass easily read by Rey Nambatac. Converge actually had a chance to win the game after Santillan split his free throws off a Teng foul with 2.3 seconds to