The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel survived the pesky defense of Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok, 85-79.
Gin Kings’ center Greg Slaughter made the dagger basket that gave the Magnolia fans a heartache.
With the game approaching its twilight zone, the man also known as the “GregZilla” sank his contested low post basket plus a foul from Hotshots import Rakeem Christmas.
Slaughter sank his bonus free-throw and gave Ginebra a needed breathing room for them to punch the 1-0 lead in their best-of-three quarterfinals series.
Ginebra Stanley Pringle who was held scoreless in the first quarter exploded in the next stages of the game and finished with 18 points and four rebounds.
Pringle was later named as the Best Player of the Game.
Paul Lee led Magnolia in scoring with his 24 points along with seven boards and three assists.
Lee who is not very well-known of his defense and usually opponents are exploiting that weakness has shown a different image in this ball-game as he forced several turnovers.
Likewise, Rakeem Christmas who came a much better player compared to his performance versus the TNT KaTropa in his PBA debut.
Those key areas might be part of the adjustments where coach Chito Victolero going to enhance in their Game 2 schedule this coming Tuesday.
Greg Slaughter With A Basket May Kasama Pang Foul
Ginebra vs Magnolia Game 1 Quarterfinals Box Score
Quarters: 26-23 | 48-44 | 66-60 | 85-79
Gin Kings (85) – Brownlee 20, Pringle 18, Aguilar 14, Tenorio 11, Devance 6, Thompson 6, Slaughter 6, Caguioa 4, Mariano 0
Hotshots (79) – Lee 24, Christmas 18, Barroca 11, Sangalang 10, Dela Rosa 5, Jalalon 5, Simon 4, Reavis 2, Gamalinda 0, Ramos 0, Melton 0, Pingris 0, Brondial 0