It seems that Barangay Ginebra San Miguel is one big puzzle that the Meralco Bolts find hard to solve.
On Sunday night, the Bolts still failed to score one over their perennial Finals tormentor.
In their first meeting inside the bubble following the Gin Kings’ triumph in the Governors Cup last season, the crowd favorites dealt the Bolts another masterful beating, 105-91 in the main game of another doubleheader in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Angeles University Foundation Sports Arena and Cultural Center.
The Kings are now at 3-0 for a three-way logjam with fellow leaders TNT Tropang Giga and Rain or Shine, who earlier dumped the still winless Northport Batang Pier via a controversial cliffhanger, 70-68.
After a 20-20 tie in the first quarter, the Kings zoomed ahead starting from the second quarter and never looked back, even leading by as much as 24 points.
High-flying forward Japeth Aguilar led all scorers with 20 points and four rebounds, clearly showing that he is slowly getting back into top form.
His performance was ably backstopped by flashy guard Stanley Pringle with 16 points and seven boards.
Allein Maliksi topscored for the Bolts with 18 points, followed by Reynel Hugnatan with 16.
(Photo credit: pba.ph)