Barangay Ginebra San Miguel crushed a retooled Talk ‘N Text five, 101-81, in front of a raucous crowd at the Philippine Arena on Sunday night to start off their Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup campaign on a high note.

Japeth Aguilar pulled off an impressive stat line of 18 points, 18 rebounds, and five blocked shots, followed by Greg Slaughter and Mac Baracael with 16 markers apiece and Mark Caguioa’s 12.

As the Tropang Texters were gaining on the Gin Kings, Barangay Ginebra picked up the pace late in the third period led by veterans Jayjay Helterbrand, Japeth Aguilar to secure an eight point advantage, 70-62, by the end of the quarter.

Then, despite rookie guard Kevin Alas’ heroics in keeping Talk ‘N Text afloat, Ginebra continued to pile on the lead until it reached its apex at 20, 101-81, at the end of the match.

Rookie head coach Jeffrey Cariaso, who said that he was happy enough even if they win by a single point, as long as their team won the ballgame, saw that their players lived up to the potential in their season opener.

“Talk ‘N Text is a tough team on paper. I have to give it to our guys for sticking firmly to our game plan. I’m happy with how we executed offensively and also defensively,” said Cariaso.

“Tonight, we’re lucky to get a good performance from one down to all the way to 15. Guys who didn’t play were very supportive and they were cheering for each other and they weren’t putting their head down when they made a turnover,” he added.

“So those were the things that were just as good with this win are those little things. It shows that our chemistry is improving, our understanding on what it takes to win is improving , and just us willing to play for each other.”

In the absence of Gilas Pilipinas stalwarts Ranidel de Ocampo and Jimmy Alapag, leading TNT’s cause was Kelly Williams with 20 markers and 11 rebounds, followed by Jayson Castro’s 19 and Kevin Alas’ 10 points in the fourth quarter alone.