Ginebra import shines in debut as Kings top Painters

Sports

JORDAN Murphy made an instant impact, turning in a solid debut to power the Barangay Ginebra Kings to a lopsided 129-111 win over the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup on Friday night, Oct. 9, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

The 29-year-old American import marked his PBA debut with a stellar all-around game, tallying 30 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists, four blocks, and one steal to lead Ginebra’s wire-to-wire win.

The 6-foot-7 Murphy, didn’t have a single turnover, allowing Ginebra to lead by as many as 33 points. Ginebra didn’t look back after racing to a 40-19 start.

The Kings, thus, snapped a two-game slide to improve to 3-4 (win-loss) in Group B. Rain or Shine dropped to 4-3.

RJ Abarrientos was Ginebra’s top scorer with 34 points to go with nine assists. Also scoring in double figures for the Kings were Stephen Holt and Troy Rosario, who finished with 14 points each.

Aaron Fuller led the Elasto Painters with 23 points. Four Rain or Shine locals scored in double figures but the Elasto Painters could not duplicat their 110-99 win over the Kings in the first round.

THE SCORES:

GINEBRA (129) - Abarrientos 34, Murphy 30, Holt 14, Rosario 14, J. Aguilar 8, Cu 8, Go 7, Gray 6, Thompson 6, Torres 2.

RAIN OR SHINE (111) - Fuller 23, Cuajao 19, Nocum 15, Malonzo 14, Caracut 12, Tiongson 8, Pringle 7, Clarito 5.QUARTERSCORES: 40-19, 73-46, 106-75, 129-111.(CCM)