PBA: Ginebra scores dominant wire-to-wire win over NLEX

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings handed the NLEX Road Warriors a demolition exhibition, 104-74, during their PBA Philippine Cup showdown on Nov. 2, 2025, at the Ynares Center.
Fresh off a heartbreaking two-point loss to the San Miguel Beermen, the Gin Kings vented their ire on the Road Warriors to officially return to the winning column of the All-Filipino Conference.

Aside from regaining their stride, Ginebra also ended NLEX’s three-game winning streak, becoming the first team in a week to get the better of them after impressive wins over Blackwater, Meralco, and Phoenix.

It was all Ginebra from start to finish as the Gin Kings banked on a red-hot start in the opening quarter that set the tone for the rest of the game.

Fueled by tighter perimeter coverage and better three-point shooting, Ginebra raced to an 11-0 start, en route to a 26-11 first-quarter scoring advantage.

Ginebra’s inside-and-outside attack from Japeth Aguilar, Stephen Holt, and Scottie Thompson did the most damage to NLEX, backstopped by a late surge from Jeremiah Gray and Troy Rosario.

However, the Road Warriors showed some signs of life when they were able to trim their deficit to just seven points at the end of the second quarter, courtesy of a downtown heave from Xyrus Torres to beat the buzzer.

NLEX continued its inspired run until midway through the third frame, when Torres once again drilled a huge three-pointer to help the Road Warriors pull within three points, 48-45.

Just when NLEX thought it could replicate its come-from-behind effort against the Fuel Masters, Tim Cone and the rest of Ginebra had other plans and answered with a demoralizing 17-6 scoring run that ballooned their advantage back to double digits, 65-51.

From that point, NLEX unfortunately slowed down and fought fatigue, failing to keep up with the consistent Ginebra squad that dominated the last two quarters.

The Road Warriors never cut their deficit to single digits again in the fourth and were officially left behind when the Gin Kings mounted their largest lead of the ball game — 30 points.

Aguilar turned back the hands of time and led Ginebra with 25 points built from an efficient 11-of-16 shooting from the field, alongside five rebounds.

Holt, who came in fiery hot with huge long bombs that ignited Ginebra’s early 11-0 run, finished with an all-around effort of 20 markers, four assists, three boards, and three steals.

“Tonight we put a good one together, and if we continue to do that, maybe we can go on a little bit of a run,” said Cone after Ginebra’s bounce-back win.