Barangay Ginebra took Game 1 of its 2020 PBA Philippine Cup semifinals series against Meralco by rolling to an easy 96-79 win Wednesday at the Angeles University Foundation Sports Arena and Cultural Center.
Six players scored in double figures for the in-rhythm Gin Kings, who led by as many as 25 against the Bolts in the opener of the best-of-five series.
Stanley Pringle led Ginebra with 19 points on 8-for-14 shooting to go with seven rebounds, while Scottie Thompson flirted with a triple-double and finished with 13 points, nine boards and eight dimes.
Rookie Arvin Tolentino chipped in 13 in a start, Aljon Mariano and LA Tenorio added 10, and Prince Caperal threw in 10 off the bench for the Gin Kings.
Game 2 on Friday at 3:45 p.m.
It was a close game past the midway mark of the second quarter before Ginebra iced a Bolts team that couldn't find their footing once their counterparts pulled away.
Up by five, Ginebra turned to defense and held Meralco scoreless in the final 3:56 of the first half while uncorking a 7-0 burst to enter the break with a 12-point lead, 48-36. The Gin Kings shot 60 percent from the field and outscored the Bolts 27-19 during that frame.
In the third quarter, Ginebra continued to put the pressure on Meralco and extended the lead to 17, 56-39, in the first four minutes as the Bolts continued to struggle on offense.
Allein Maliksi, who was one of the very few bright spots for the Bolts, tried to inject some life and scored 11 of the first 14 points for Meralco in the third. That included a triple that cut the lead to 10, 60-50.
Ginebra, however, was just too balanced and composed, outscoring the Bolts 11-4 to end the quarter and cruise the rest of the way.
Maliksi scored 24 points and hit 5-for-6 threes in 28 minutes off the bench for Meralco, which hardly looked like the same team that ended San Miguel's dynasty in the All-Filipino conference three nights ago. Chris Newsome was the only player aside from Maliksi to score in double digits with 13.