Japeth Aguilar saves the day for the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings in their win over Blackwater Bossing in the PBA Philippine Cup. –PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines — Japeth Aguilar reminded everyone he’s Barangay Ginebra’s main man on Friday in the PBA Philippine Cup.
The Gin Kings were headed for disaster until Aguilar saved the day, the game-winner in their 101-99 escape of Blackwater at Philsports Arena.
READ: PBA: Japeth Aguilar hits game-winner as Ginebra escapes Blackwater
Coach Tim Cone likened Aguilar to superhero Batman as the big man lifted Ginebra to its third straight victory–and the multititled mentor had no doubt about the shot when it left Aguilar’s hands.
Jubilation among the Barangay Ginebra faithful after Japeth Aguilar’s jumper to beat Blackwater, 101-99, for a 5-2 record in the PBA Philippine Cup | @jonasterradoINQ pic.twitter.com/UgQAAK03Lv
— INQUIRER Sports (@INQUIRERSports) May 23, 2025
“He’s our Batman. We go to him, we have high expectations for him which he fills up every night. No doubt, we have complete confidence in him,” said Cone. “He was always like the Robin to Greg (Slaughter) and the Robin to Christian (Standhardinger) and now he’s our Batman.”
With the score tied at 99-all and 19 seconds left, the Gin Kings drew up a play after a timeout with Scottie Thompson directing the play.
READ: PBA: Japeth Aguilar holds own vs Converge bigs in Ginebra win
Thompson, who finished with 18 points and 10 assists, drove into the lane before kicking it out to Aguilar, who hit the go-ahead jumper with exactly one second left.
The Gilas Pilipinas veteran finished with 22 points and six rebounds.
Surprisingly, though, Aguilar’s baseline jumper wasn’t the designated play to end the game.
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“First of all, I didn’t design that play. We did set it up for him (Aguilar) to get it originally but it broke down so they had to make it up as they went,” Cone revealed. “Originally, it was supposed to be an alley-oop but it didn’t happen because they did a great job defending it.”
But all’s well that ends well for the Gin Kings as they improved to 5-2 for the conference. Next up for them is defending champion Meralco on Friday at Araneta Coliseum.
