Jay R. Gotera
MANILA — Flaunting their never-say-die spirit once again, the Barangay Ginebra Kings bucked a potential conference-ending injury to prized import Paul Harris to beat the GlobalPort Batang Pier, 93-81, Saturday night in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Kings, already missing star center Greg Slaughter, started cold but exploded in the fourth quarter even with an all-Filipino crew led by Japeth Aguilar. The 6’9” power forward paced Ginebra with 21 points, six rebounds and two blocks.
Harris collected 14 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two blocks before leaving the game late in the third quarter with a broken right thumb after colliding with GlobalPort import Dominique Sutton.
Four other Kings scored in double digits with Sol Mercado posting 12 points and Chris Ellis, LA Tenorio and Joe Devance adding 10 markers apiece.
GlobalPort went on a scoring blitz in the first quarter, taking a 20-6 lead behind the guns of starting guards Stanley Pringle and Joseph Yeo.
The Kings finally woke up in the second quarter as they grabbed the lead, 34-30. But Terrence Romeo and Pringle knocked down three-pointers to regain the lead.
After a tightly fought third quarter and following the injury to their import, the Kings went on an 11-3 run to take a nine-point lead, 73-64, at the start of the final quarter.
Aguilar capped the victory with a huge dunk before the final buzzer.
Pringle led GlobalPort with 26 points while Romeo added 15 markers.
NLEX 96, Blackwater 90
Import Henry Walker made a smashing return to the PBA, exploding for 44 points to lead the NLEX Road Warriors to a 96-90 victory over the Blackwater Elite, 96-90.
Walker shot a torrid 15-for-25 (60-percent) from the field and 6-for-13 (46-percent) from three-point range.
Kevin Alas and Mac Baracael added 12 points apiece for the Road Warriors while Jonas Villanueva chipped in 11.
Virtually unstoppable in the first quarter, Walker scored 24 of his team’s 31 points in the period, including 5-for-7 from beyond the arc, as the Road Warriors stretched their lead to as many as 17 points in the first.
NLEX kept Blackwater at bay and was still up by 17 points, 78-61, late in the third quarter.
The Elite managed to cut the Road Warriors’ lead to 10 heading into the fourth quarter.
But Walker sparkled again for NLEX in the fourth, scoring his team’s first eight points as the Road Warriors pushed their lead back up to 15 points, 89-74.
Blackwater kept fighting back and was able to cut NLEX lead to just four points before time ran out on the Elite.
Games Sunday: San Miguel Beermen vs. Phoenix Petroleum Fuel Masters and Alaska Aces vs. Meralco Bolts.
