Barangay Ginebra escapes Blackwater in Philippine Cup campaign opener

Barangay Ginebra escaped Blackwater Bossing's second half rally, 85-82, to open their campaign in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup on Sunday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

Blackwater was leading 76-69 at the 7:05 mark of the fourth quarter before Ginebra made a 10-0 run to take the lead with less than three minutes left. The Bossing made a 6-0 charge, four of which came from Josh Torralba to reclaim the lead, 82-79 with just over a minute on the clock.

However, Ginebra took control in the final moments of the game as a Japeth Aguilar shot pushed Ginebra to 83 after Scottie Thompson's free throws off a JVee Casio foul.

Time was on Ginebra's side as Baser Amer turned the ball over in the dying seconds of the game. Scottie Pringle's charities off Kevin Ebona's foul delivered the opening game win for Barangay Ginebra.

Ginebra and Blackwater were tied at 39 at the end of the first half.

Thompson delivered an MVP performance with 16 rebounds on top of 14 points and nine assists. Christian Standhardinger tallied 21 points while Japeth Aguilar and Arvin Tolentino chipped in 15 and 12 points apiece.

Luck was not on the side of Rey Suerte as his team-high 15 point-performance went to naught. Torralba made 14 points while Amer and Ato Ular tallied 11 and 10 points each.

Ginebra will be back in action on Wednesday when they play the Rain or Shine Elastopainters, while Blackwater will play the NorthPort Batang Pier on Saturday.

The Scores:

Ginebra 85 – Standhardinger 21, J.Aguilar 15, Thompson 14, Tolentino 12, Pringle 9, Mariano 6, Tenorio 5, Pinto 3, Chan 0, Caperal 0.

Blackwater 82 – Suerte 15, Torralba 14, Amer 11, Ular 10, McCarthy 9, Sena 9, Ebona 3, Ayonayon 2, Publico 0, Escoto 0, Melton 0, Casio 0.

Quarters: 22-16, 39-39, 61-67, 85-82

—MGP, GMA News