By REYNALD MAGALLON
Japeth Aguilar dropped 30 points as Barangay Ginebra opened its PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup in style, whipping Terrafirma, 101-80, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Wednesday, April 23.
The Kings hardly showed any signs of rust even after another heartbreaking runner-up finish last conference, beating the luckless Dyip black and blue for their first win.
Proving that Ginebra is just fine even without resident import Justin Brownlee in the all-Filipino conference, Aguilar towered over inside the paint, easily scoring at will to come two-points shy of his career-best scoring.
He added seven rebounds and four blocks to his name while Scottie Thompson flirted with a triple-double with 11 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists.
Meanwhile, Ginebra’s Finals tormentor and the Grand Slam chasing TNT had the exact opposite in its debut.
The NLEX Road Warriors rode on a balanced attack to essay a dominant 91-74 victory and deny the Tropang 5G a winning start in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup on Wednesday, April 23, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
NLEX hardly needed the usual big scoring game from star guard Robert Bolick as the Road Warriors got plenty of contributions across the board from young guns like JB Bahio, Xyrus Torres and Enoch Valdez to pick up their second straight win for a 2-1 slate.
Six Road Warriors actually scored in double figures with Bolick still orchestrating the attack with 13 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals while Bahio posted a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Torres also finished with 13 – 10 of which he fired in the first two quarters where the Road Warriors erected a double-digit spread, 47-31, to take full control of the first half.
