Despite being pounded in the early goings, the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel pulled off a fantastic turnaround of events and separate themselves late against the Star Hotshots, 116-103, in another chapter to the Manila Clasico at the jampacked Smart Araneta Coliseum Sunday evening.
The win ties Ginebra with the Mahindra Enforcers for the second spot with a 6-2 slate.
Trailing by 17 in the middle of the second quarter, the ‘Never Say Die’ spirit of the Barangay once again prevailed, as the team slowly diminished the lead.
Star drew first blood, separating themselves behind a spectacular first half performance from import Joel Wright. However, Justin Brownlee kept Ginebra afloat in the first 24 minutes, hitting baskets to salvage the scoreboard. Coach Tim Cone commended his reinforcement’s effort that was a chunk of the team’s comeback effort.
“I was tearing my hair out constantly in the first half. If we needed shots to stay in the game, he did,” said Cone. “If Justin (Brownlee) weren’t there, we could’ve been down by 25.”
By the second half, a revitalized Ginebra squad got it going from a pick-and-roll play between LA Tenorio and Japeth Aguilar, that was finished by a thunderous jam by the former Ateneo Blue Eagle. From that point on, the locals started to get it going and cruise to a second half dominance.
A decisive 19-6 start to the fourth period, including quick baskets by Jervy Cruz, sealed the deal for Ginebra. Armed with momentum, Ginebra left Star on the dust by scoring 38 points in the final frame against a disoriented Hotshots troop.
Brownlee had 38 points to lead all scorers. Japeth Aguilar added 21 points and six rebounds. At the end of the game, it was still about a team effort for Ginebra.
“I’m really proud of my teammates,” Aguilar said. “I want to credit Justin, since he really carried us when we were flat. Di din kami nag panic at dahan dahan kaming humabol sa lead.”
Ginebra outrebounded Star, 45-34 that led to a crucial statline of more second chance points at 20-11.
Wright had 31 points for Star, but struggled against Ginebra’s defense in the second half. PJ Simon added 22 points, which included five makes from beyond-the-arc.
Ginebra (T-2nd, 6-2) will next face the Mahindra Enforcers (T-2nd, 6-2) on September 9 at the Big Dome, while Star (11th, 1-6) tries to save their tournament against Meralco (5th, 5-3), next Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Scores:
Ginebra (116) – Brownlee 38, Aguilar 21, Mercado 14, Tenorio 13, Cruz 8, Caguioa 8, Thompson 6, Marcelo 4, Mariano 2, Devance 2, Helterbrand 0.
Star (103) – Wright 31, Simon 22, Pingris 13, Garcia 10, Barroca 9, Yap 9, Melton 5, Sangalang 2, Maliksi 2, Reavis 0, Pascual 0.
Quarterscores: 21-33, 50-58, 78-76, 116-103.
