Japeth Aguilar stars in Pampanga homecoming as Barangay Ginebra stops streaking Converge

PBA

Japeth Aguilar put on a show in front of his hometown crowd, steering Barangay Ginebra to a 85-66 blowout win against streaking Converge in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup on Saturday at the Bren Guiao Convention Center in Pampanga. 

Aguilar, a native of Sasmuan, dropped a double-double outing of 23 points and 10 rebounds to go with three blocks as the Gin Kings returned to the win column with a 3-2 card. The FiberXers, meanwhile, saw their three-game winning streak snapped to go 4-3. 

The 38-year-old Aguilar, however, wasn't able to finish the game after going down with 3:02 left in the fourth quarter due to cramps. Nonetheless, it was still a convincing win for Ginebra, which was coming off a narrow 86-89 loss to NLEX last Wednesday. 

Scottie Thompson supplied the help with 15 points and four rebounds while RJ Abarrientos provided triples in the second half as Gin Kings fended off every comeback attempt from Converge. 

Enjoying a 16-point halftime lead, 50-34, Ginebra was off to a slow start in the third period, which Converged opened with a quick 6-0 run to cut the deficit to 10. 

Justine Baltazar, another product of Pampanga, then knocked down a tough putback for a 51-62 spread late in the third but Aguilar made it a 67-52 cushion following an and-one basket. 

Converge continued trying its luck from beyond the arc, knocking down a pair of triples in the fourth courtesy of Alec Stockton and MJ Garcia to once again trim the gap to 10 at 62-72. 

But Ginebra responded with a decisive 13-4 closing run, punctuated by Aguilar’s alley-oop layup off a feed from Abarrientos late in the fourth. Moments later, Aguilar signaled to the bench, indicating he was in pain.

Aguilar never returned to the game after that as the rest of his teammates took care of the finishing touches. 

Baltazar paced Converge with 13 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks, and one assist while Justin Arana collected nine markers, 11 boards, and three assists. 

Scores:

—JKC, GMA Integrated News