The Meralco Bolts put on an explosive second half performance to spoil the return of Greg Slaughter and shut down Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 93-78, in the rematch of last year’s Oppo PBA Governors’ Cup finals on Sunday at SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
Allen Durham tallied 30 points, 24 rebounds and nine assists to carry the Bolts who got burned by Justin Brownlee’s title-clinching triple last year in their first-ever finals appearance.
Jared Dillinger added 17 points and five boards as as Chris Newsome also had a double-double of 16 points and 13 rebounds.
Slaughter, who played in his first game since injuring his knee last year, scored 14 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks in his return.
But his numbers weren’t enough for Ginebra which only got 13 points from Brownlee. LA Tenorio top-scored for the team with 16 points.
With Slaughter in the starting lineup, Ginebra had a sensational start and zoomed to a 32-21 advantage after the first quarter.
Meralco however got its bearings back and made it just a two-point game at the break, 45-43.
The Bolts then unleashed an electrifying 13-1 run highlighted by a Cliff Hodge slam to open the third quarter and turn the tables on Ginebra which suddenly couldn’t get anything from Brownlee.
After scoring 11 points in the first half, the Ginebra import only managed to score two points in the last two periods.
The Bolts never relinquished their lead en route to a 2-0 start to the tournament.
