Ginebra handles Meralco with ease to earn semis slot

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel grabbed the lead entering halftime and never looked back, cruising to a 104-90 victory over the Meralco Bolts on Wednesday to earn a semifinals berth in the 2018 PBA Commissioner’s Cup.

Justin Brownlee paced the Gin Kings with 26 points and nine rebounds, while LA Tenorio and Japeth Aguilar rounded up the starters in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Greg Slaughter tallied 14 points and 10 boards off the bench, while Sol Mercado and Jeff Chan added a combined 17 points as reserves.

Down by as much as 12 points in the opening quarter, the Gin Kings went on a 24-10 run to end the first half to go up, 56-51.

Coach Tim Cone’s squad went ahead by 18 in the fourth period after a split from Japeth Aguilar, 85-67, before the Bolts went on a run to cut the deficit to a more manageable 10 points at the 2:47 mark off a Jared Dillinger trey.

Slaughter and Tenorio, however, combined for a 6-0 run to stretch the lead to 16 with one minute remaining and put the game away.

Arinze Onuaku led Meralco with 21 points and 13 rebounds, as Chris Newsome paced the locals with 17 points. Baser Amer had a relatively quiet night with 11 points, while Reynel Hugnatan contributed 10 markers. Ranidel De Ocampo, Jared Dillinger, Cliff Hodge, and Anjo Caram were limited to just six points apeice. — Renee Fopalan/RSJ, GMA News