Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Barangay Ginebra San Miguel finished off the elimination phase of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup with a flourish after handling the Meralco Bolts, 103-90, on Wednesday (April 13) at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Greg Slaughter and LA Tenorio led the way for Ginebra with 21 and 20 points, respectively.
No matter what the Meralco Bolts did, they could not just get anything going.
Ginebra took control of the game early on after going on a 17-4 run to take a 27-14 advantage headed into the second period.
The Ginebra defense just proved to be too much for the Bolts, who were only able to trim the deficit down to 51-41 at the start of the second half before completely losing control of the game.
Chris Newsome paced the Bolts with 23 markers.
With such a strong end to the season, Ginebra coach Tim Cone hopes that they can carry the momentum straight into the playoffs.
“We played well from start to finish,” said Cone. “We played two real tough teams back-to-back, San Miguel and Meralco, and played very well. So hopefully that bodes well for us in the playoffs.”
The victory secured a best-of-three berth in the post-season for Ginebra, who finished with a 7-4 slate. Meralco slipped to a 8-3 record.
