Ginebra gets back at King, Blackwater

Scottie Thompson notched a triple-double to lead Barangay Ginebra San Miguel to a 112-98 payback win over Blackwater in Group B of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup Tuesday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Thompson finished with 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out 11 assists in an all-around performance as the Gin Kings avenged their first round loss to the Bossing.

Ginebra won its third straight since a close defeat to Blackwater two weeks ago to improve its win-loss record to 4-2.

The Gin Kings came out with better energy and were more aggressive compared to their first meeting where they faced the then-debuting replacement import George King.

Although Blackwater took an early five-point lead, Ginebra was quick to fire back before controlling the game the rest of the way to snap the Bossing’s three-game winning run.

“We talked about an attitude change. We needed to come out with a little bit higher level of intensity because they are proven to be a really, really strong team,” Gin Kings coach Tim Cone said.

Justin Brownlee had 20 points and nine rebounds, RJ Abarrientos had 15 while Stephen Holt and Japeth Aguilar added 14 each for Ginebra.

Blackwater slid to a 3-4 record.

King had 21 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists to pace the Bossing. Troy Rosario got 18, Sedrick Barefield made 15 while Christian David and Justin Chua added 13 and 12 markers, respectively.

Box scores:

GINEBRA (112) --- Thompson 21, Brownlee 20, Abarrientos 15, Holt 14, J.Aguilar 14, Ahanmisi 8, Go 7, Tenorio 6, Mariano 4, Pinto 3, R.Aguilar 0

BLACKWATER (98) --- King 21, Rosario 18, Barefield 15, David 13, Chua 12, Ilagan 6, Escoto 5, Kwekuteye 3, Mitchell 3, Suerte 2, Corteza 0, Montalbo 0, Ponferrada 0

Quarters: 36-22, 67-58, 91-82, 112-98