Barangay Ginebra San Miguel draws first blood in their best-of-seven championship series against its Governors’ Cup rival, the Meralco Bolts, 91-87.
Japeth Aguilar led the local squad of the Gin Kings notching 16 points with six rebounds and was later named as the Best Player of the Game.
Aguilar also made a key defensive play when he stopped the rampaging Allen Durham with eleven seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
Japeth perfectly timed the drive of the Meralco’s “Hulk” to swat his layup and preserved their 89-87 advantage.
Brownlee finished it off with his pair of free-throws to slam the door as he gave Ginebra a much comfortable lead, 91-87.
The Gin Kings import delivered 38 points and 16 rebounds but he was almost scoreless in the final period.
Raymond Almazan sparked the Bolts particularly in the first half had 20 points and 13 rebounds while Chris Newsome who carries Meralco in the fourth had 24 points and eight boards.
Durham logged a triple-double performance where he got 25 points, 18 rebounds, and ten assists.
Game 2 of the Ginebra and Meralco series will resume this coming June 10 (Friday).
Ginebra vs Meralco Game 1 Finals Box Score
Gin Kings (91) – Tenorio 14, Thompson 2, Pringle 10, Aguilar 16, Brownlee 38, Chan 2, Slaughter 8, Devance 1
Bolts (87) – Durham 25, Amer 9, Newsome 24, Quinto 3, Almazan 20, Caram 4, Maliksi 2