EMBATTLED Barangay Ginebra San Miguel tries to shove Meralco deeper into the hole, while Barako Bull seeks a momentum to stay in pace with a surging Mahindra as the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup goes out of town on Tuesday at the Alonte Sports Arena in Laguna.
Ginebra (1-3) takes on winless Meralco (0-4) at 7 p.m., with both cellar-dwellers coming off disappointing losses over the weekend.
League-leading San Miguel Beermen handed sister team Ginebra its third loss, 100-82, on Sunday at the PhilSports Arena, with Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo conspiring with star forward Arwind Santos for a combined 46 points.
The Fajardo-Santos tandem withstood the firepower of Ginebra’s twin towers, with the vastly improved Greg Slaughter and 6-foot-9 Japeth Aguilar exploding with 21 points apiece. The duo also collared 20 boards in their losing effort.
“I’m very disappointed by our play in our last game, but I’m still not discouraged. We’re just not at the same level as San Miguel yet, and they showed us that we still have a long way to go before we can compete with them,” said Ginebra Head Coach Tim Cone, who is still in the process of solving the puzzle as he infuses the “triangle “ to his new team.
“No doubt, we need to play better and harder and reward our loyal fans. As of now, disappointing our fans is truly our greatest disappointment. But we won’t stop working,” Cone added.
The Bolts, meanwhile, absorbed a 106-108 loss to Barako behind the hot-shooting Willy Wilson and late-game heroics of Josh Urbiztondo.
Gary David was the lone bright spot for the Bolts as he finished with a conference-high 40 points, including crucial baskets down the stretch to cut Barako’s lead by just two with 29 seconds remaining. But the Bolts failed to convert in the final possession.
In the first game at 4:15 p.m., Barako (2-2) tries to extend its streak, after their big win over the Bolts, against the Enforcers (1-3).
Mahindra stunned NLEX on Friday, 103-93, behind Niño Canaleta and Aldrech Ramos, two forwards acquired in an off-season trade.
Image credits: Kevin de la Cruz