PBA: Joseph Yeo steals show as Ginebra torches Purefoods in Manila Clasico

Joseph Yeo had 17 points, while the twin towers Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter combined for 25, as Barangay Ginebra San Miguel cruised to an easy 89-66 win against Purefoods in a packed SMART-Araneta Coliseum in Sunday's Manila Clasico.

"I wanna give credit to all the players on my team who are starting to understand on a daily basis how to be successful," said Ginebra coach Jeff Cariaso. "They worked hard, followed the game plan. We're very precise on our gameplan [and] am very proud of it."

Ginebra opened up the game with a 10-0 assault, capped by a Joseph Yeo trey in the first two minutes of the game. Marc Pingris and PJ Simon tugged Purefoods closer, as a James Yap split trimmed the lead to four, 14-10. Slaughter closed out the quarter for Ginebra, though, enough fo a nine-point lead after one, 19-10.


Purefoods fared better on the offensive end in the second, cashing in on jumpers, 21-17. LA Tenorio soon came alive, stretching the lead back to 14 with four minutes left. Late makes by Simon and Joe Devance made it a ballgame after two, 38-32.

After the break, Ginebra started pulling points from everywhere, as Billy Mamaril, Rodney Brondial and Mark Caguioa all connected. The lead ballooned to as much as 19 points, before Alex Mallari scored on a pull up to end the third, 66-49.

It was all Ginebra in the fourth, as the lead reached a high of 25 points after a Mac Baracael trey with 15 ticks left. A Yousef Taha make settled the final score, 89-66.

PJ Simon and Joe Devance carried the load in scoring for Purefoods, tallying 15 and 11, respectively. Marc Pingris had 10 points and nine rebounds going four-of-11 from the field. James Yap, who is still nursing an injury, also failed to find his offensive rhythm, scoring 11 points on a two-of-14 clip. — Renee Fopalan/JST, GMA News


The scores:

GINEBRA 89 - Yeo 17, Slaughter 14, Baracael 13, Mamaril 12, Aguilar 11, Tenorio 7, Caguioa 7, Brondial 6, Helterbrand 2, Monfort 0, Forrester 0, Urbiztondo 0, Reyes 0, Ellis 0.

PUREFOODS 66 - Simon 15, Devance 11, Pingris 10, Barroca 9, Mallari 8, Yap 7, Taha 3, Melton 2, Allado 1, Reavis 0, Holstein 0, Gaco 0, Maliksi 0, Matias 0.

Quarterscores: 19-10, 38-32, 66-49, 89-66