THE Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings and Blackwater Elite, two teams in the middle of the pack of the ongoing PBA Philippine Cup, get entangled in a key matchup today that carries playoff implications.
Set for 7 p.m. at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City, the Kings (4-4) and Elite (5-4) try to get the better of the other to fortify their hold of a quarterfinal position and, if possible, end in a favorable spot at the end of the elimination round.
Barangay Ginebra enters today’s contest off a win over the Meralco Bolts, 83-72, last Saturday in an out-of-town game in Iloilo City.
Joe Devance, LA Tenorio and Japeth Aguilar paced the Kings in the win that also saw Scottie Thompson play a brilliant all-around game.
Mr. Devance had a team-high 19 points to go along with six rebounds while Mr. Tenorio had 18 points on top of five rebounds and four assists, and Mr. Aguilar had a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out.
Sophomore Thompson, for his part, had seven points, seven assists and a game-high 16 rebounds.
Incidentally, the 19 points of Mr. Devance moved him past the 5,000-point mark in Asia’s first play-for-pay league.
PROPEL ITS CAUSE
Also coming off a victory and eyeing to propel its cause as the elimination round of the season-opening Philippine Basketball Association tournament comes to a close is Blackwater, which with a win will be in the vicinity for a shot at a top-two finish and the twice-to-beat advantage the goes with it in the quarterfinals.
Young stars Mac Belo and Arthur Dela Cruz are showing the way for the Elite, which are experiencing their best tournament so far in their young PBA existence.
Rookie Belo has been good for 16 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals a game while second-year player Dela Cruz is tallying 13.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.4 steals.
“Our energy this conference has been key for us and we really have to keep it up. We must not relax especially heading into the next round,” said Blackwater Elite Leo Isaac following their last victory over the Alaska Aces.
Meanwhile, serving as appetizer for PBA Friday is the contest between the Meralco Bolts (2-7) and Rain or Shine Elastopainters (5-3).
The Bolts have lost six straight games while the Elastopainters dropped their last game.
The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings look to fortify their spot in the quarterfinals of the PBA Philippine Cup in their game against Blackwater Elite today at the Cuneta Astrodome. — Alvin S. Go
