Slaughter, Aguilar pull off king-sized stint vs Air21

Games tomorrow (MOA Arena)

5:45 p.m. – Barako Bull vs Talk n Text

8 p.m. – Globalport vs San Mig Coffee

MANILA, Philippines - Rookie Greg Slaughter won his battle with veteran Asi Taulava, Japeth Aguilar towered above everybody and Barangay Ginebra crushed Air21, 78-69, to stay right behind frontrunner Petron Blaze in the PLDT MyDSL PBA Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City last night.

The Ginebra Twin Towers produced nig numbers as they imposed their huge inside presence and led the Kings to their third straight win and sixth in seven games in all.

“At 6-1 halfway through the elims, we need to press on if we’re to gain the important twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals,” said Ginebra coach Ato Agustin.

Slaughter made a good account of himself versus Taulava, piling up 19 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks, while Aguilar, showing versatility, outclassed all the defenders thrown at him, coming through with a remarkable near triple-double with 22 markers, 12 boards and eight blocks.

“In each practice, I make it a point to add something or improve something in my game,” said Aguilar.

Taulava had his hands full against the two young Ginebra behemoths and even with a 28-point explosion from Joseph Yeo, the hard-luck Express reeled to their seventh loss against a lone win.

Aguilar went roaring and soaring for high-reel slams to cap Ginebra’s searing runs in the middle quarters to the cheers of the crowd, enabling the team to post an 18-point spread at 52-34.

The 6-foot-9 forward also helped the Kings thwart Air21’s repeated comeback tries in the fourth quarter.

Joseph Yeo sizzled with 28 points and had highlight moves, helping Air21 back in the game, 51-57, early in the final quarter.

But the Kings won’t be denied with their big men playing big up to the finish.

Back from brief rest in the second quarter, Aguilar and Slaughter led a charge that had the Kings breaking away from an 18-all count and into a 41-26 lead at the turn.

Playing despite mild sickness, Mark Caguioa contributed eight points in the first half.

The Energy Cola kept pace with Kings early on, even twice taking a five-point lead at 13-8 and 15-10.

With four players churning out conference-high numbers, Alaska Milk checked its skid as it hacked out a 91-82 win over Meralco later in the night.

Dondon Hontiveros, Cyrus Baguio and Sonny Thoss put in tournament best of 24, 23 and 20 points while Gabby Espinas got a career-high 23 rebounds as the Aces snapped a two-game losing skein and forced a tie at sixth place with the Bolts at 3-5.

With two three-pointers, Hontiveros got another career achievement becoming only the fifth PBA player to hit the 900th mark after Allan Caidic, Ronnie Magsanoc, Al Solis and Jimmy Alapag.

The Kings pulled even at 15 on two free throws by Billy Mamaril and roared ahead, 18-16, on a three-pointer by Caguioa at the start of the second quarter.

Then the combination of Aguilar, Slaughter, LA Tenorio, Chris Ellis and Jayjay Helterbrand pressed Ginebra’s attack.

Helterbrand buried a tough jumper to cap Ginebra’s rousing 23-8 run in the second period. Aguilar had eight points and four rebounds in the second quarter.