PBA: Ginebra ties series as Greg slaughters San Mig Coffee

2013 top pick Greg Slaughter put his offensive arsenal on full display on Friday, as he led Barangay Ginebra San Miguel to a 93-64 victory against the San Mig Super Coffee Mixers, equalizing their PBA Philippine Cup semifinals series at one-all, at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

With the win, Ginebra evens up the series at 1-1. Game three will be on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

 

San Mig Coffee was aggressive at the start of the game, as PJ Simon led their attacks in the paint, 8-6. Ginebra responded with similar moves to the basket, while Greg Slaughter leaned on his mid-range game. A Slaughter slam made it a six-point game at the 3:38 mark, 18-12, as San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone plugged in Yancy De Ocampo to address Ginebra's hot-shooting big man.

 

Quick hits from James Yap and Marc Pingris kept the Mixers close, while Simon posted Tenorio ,to cut the lead to two, 20-18. Billy Mamaril snuck in for a banker at the other end, as Yancy De Ocampo and Jayjay Helterbrand exchanged deuces to end the first with Ginebra still ahead, 24-19.

 

After Helterbrand and Chris Ellis chipped in two each to make it a seven-point game, 28-21, San Mig Coffee opted to out-run their foes, inserting Mark Barroca with Justin Melton and Alex Mallari. Ginebra just had too much firepower, though, as Helterbrand connected from deep, while Emman Monfort and LA Tenorio teased the Mixers' trees with drives to the hoop, 37-26. The Mixers could only muster two more makes in the period, while fastbreak points and a late Monfort trey put Ginebra ahead, 48-32, heading into the half.

 

Slaughter already tallied 15 points after two quarters, going 5-of-6 from the field with seven boards and five charities. Ginebra's backcourt was equally stellar, as Tenorio, Helterbrand, and Caguioa combined for 21. PJ Simon and James Yap each had eight for the Mixers, sharing identical 4-of-9 shooting clips. Yap also tallied five rebounds.

 

With Slaughter playing well, Ginebra enjoyed a 50 percent clip from the field. San Mig Coffee struggled with a 14.3 percent clip from deep, pulling down their fieldgoal percentage to 34.2 percent.

 

Mac Baracael and Slaughter started the third with a five-point swing, before Marc Pingris and James Yap strung seven together to force Ginebra to call for time, 53-39. Offensive boards led to a Japeth Aguilar bucket, as Pingris and Slaughter exchanged baskets, 57-41. Simon posted Tenorio anew, netting an and-one, but an Ellis slam, followed by jumpers from Aguilar, kept San Mig Coffee at bay, 63-48. A Simon trey looked to help the Mixers finish strong, but a six-point swing from Tenorio, Slaughter and Helterbrand re-established a comfortable lead for Ginebra after three, 69-53.

 

Free throws from Helterbrand, plus a bucket from Mamaril bumped the Ginebra lead up to two, 73-53, with 10 minutes left in the game. San Mig Coffee would never recover, as the tandem of Reyes and Mamaril put the game away.

Greg Slaughter finished the game with 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting, plus 12 rebounds, an assist and a block. Jayjay Helterbrand was a surprise spark off the bench with 11 points, four boards and three dimes, while LA Tenorio and Billy Mamaril scored 10 apiece. Tenorio also handed out a team-high eight assists.

Japeth Aguilar had a quiet outing with just seven points, four rebounds and three assists, but the Ginebra bench more than made up for it. Of all the players fielded in by Coach Agustin, only Dylan Ababou failed to score.

PJ Simon led the Mixers with 16 markers. Marc Pingris added 15 points and four rebounds, James Yap scored 14 on 7-of-17 shooting, to round out the Mixers who finished with at least 10 points. Point guard Mark Barroca was just 1-of-6 from the field with a 5-of-6 clip from the foul line for seven points.

Ginebra finished shooting 51.3 percent from the field, while at the same time, they held San Mig Coffee to a 33.8 percent clip. The Barangay also doubled up on fast break points, 8-4. - AMD, GMA News