Ginebra's Greg Slaughter (C) squeezes in between San Mig's Marc Pingris (R) and Yancy de Ocampo under the basket in Friday night's PBA semifinal action at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum. Jay R. Gotera Saudi Gazette MANILA — Living up to his nickname “Gregzilla,” 6'11” rookie center Greg Slaughter came up with a monster game as the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings devoured the San Mig Super Coffee Mixers, 93-64, Friday night in Game 2 of their PLDT myDSL-PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum. Bouncing back with a vengeance from his tepid performance in Game 1 which Ginebra lost, 83-85, the gentle giant showed awesome form, finishing with a game-high 21 points and 12 rebounds despite the bruising defense employed by the Mixers. Slaughter displayed his wide range of offensive weapons — mid-range jump shots, rim-rattling dunks, and flawless layups — making mincemeat of his defenders time and again. He scored 15 points in the first half alone to power the Kings to a 48-32 half-time lead amid roars of delight from the nearly 20,000 mostly pro-Ginebra fans who witnessed the carnage. The win tied the best-of-seven series at 1-all with Game 3 set Sunday. Ginebra head coach Ato Agustin fielded in all 13 of his players, with nearly all of them coming up with highlight reels. Jayjay Helterbrand showed his old flashes of brilliance, finishing with 11 points, four rebounds, and three assists. Billy Mamaril also came off the bench to deliver 10 points, the same output made by LA Tenorio. Reserve center Jay-R Reyes and Mark Caguioa added eight points apiece while Japeth Aguilar chipped in seven markers. Ginebra's bench players outscored their San Mig counterpart, 44-10. The Kings sizzled from the field as 51.3 percent of their shots found their mark. Ginebra also sprung a defensive surprise on San Mig, employing a tight 2-3 zone defense that pulled down the Mixers' shooting average to just 33.8 percent from the field. The Kings likewise clobbered the Mixers in rebounds, winning 55-32. The Kings so totally dominated the match that San Mig head coach Tim Cone pulled out his starters with still plenty of time left in the fourth quarter. Peter June Simon led San Mig with 16 points while Marc Pingris added 15. However, the athletic San Mig center only managed to grab four rebounds. James Yap was the only other double-digit scorer for San Mig with 14 points. Game Saturday: Rain or Shine vs. Petron Blaze (Game 3, semis).
