By Adrian Stewart Co

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel kicked off their 2019 PBA Philippine Cup campaign with a 90-79 win over TNT KaTropa last Sunday at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.

Ginebra leaned on early hits by Japeth Aguilar, LA Tenorio, and Greg Slaughter for a 28-12 edge, which later grew to 44-26. However, TNT managed to cut the lead down to 49-42 at the half following on late conversions from Celedonio Trollano.

In the second half, Roger Pogoy helped further narrow the gap to 59-57, but the eventual winners later pulled away to a 90-73 lead late in the fourth quarter.

Aguilar led the way with 21 points, with Gregory Slaughter adding 15 markers and seven rebounds.

“Opening game is always tough,” said Ginebra head coach Tim Cone. “You can always start lethargic and we are not in great shape as we are.”

“We’ve got real good talent, we know what we want to do, but sometimes we get tired,” he added./ASC, WDJ