Japeth Aguilar drops 30 as Barangay Ginebra dominates Terrafirma

Jaoeth Aguilar dropped 30 points as Barangay Ginebra dominated Terrafirma, 101-80, to open its campaign in the PBA Philippine Cup on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Aguilar waxed hot from the field as he made 12 out of 15 attempts and sank all his six attempts from the free throw line to tow Barangay Ginebra in its All-Filipino debut.

Barangay Ginebra had a solid start with 30 points against Terrafirma's 17 points before claiming a 51-35 advantage at the end of the first half. 

Last conference's runner-up had its biggest lead at the 8:01 mark of the third period after RJ Abarrientos' layup from Aguilar's assist, before it cruised to the victory.

For Barangay Ginebra head coach Tim Cone, bouncing back from last conference's finals is not an issue, but they would rather focus on the task at hand which is the start of the Philippine Cup.

"It's not an issue for us at this point. I think our guys are good at moving forward, moving on. We're motivated because it's All-Filipino, we want to get off and get our feet wet today and try to get a win under our belts. We played a solid game today -- wasn't great but it was solid. We were sloppy at times, but it's the first game for us, hopefully we can tighten things up," Cone said.

Abarrientos had 15 points, while Scottie Thompson had a double-double performance of 11 points to go with 13 rebounds, seven assists, and a steal.

CJ Catapusan finished with 14 points, while Mark Nonoy, Louie Sangalang, and Aldrech Ramos had 13, 12, and 11 points, respectively, as the Dyip slipped to 1-3.

Scores:

Barangay Ginebra 101 – J.Aguilar 30, Abarrientos 14, Thompson 11, Holt 10, Ahanmisi 9, Pinto 8, Gray 6, Rosario 5, R. Aguilar 4, Mariano 2, Adamos 2, Cu 0, Pessumal 0.

Terrafirma 80 – Catapusan 14, Nonoy 13, Sangalang 12, Ramos 11, Pringle 9, Ferrer 7, Zaldivar 7, Melecio 4, Paraiso 2, Hernandez 1, Hanapi 0, Olivario 0.

Quarters: 30-17, 51-35, 75-52, 101-80.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News