No three extra periods this time
The once in-danger Barangay Ginebra San Miguel is now just a win away from returning to the Philippine Cup semifinals as they drew first blood against Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 88-80, Monday night at Mall of Asia Arena.
The Gin Kings, the 2017 All-Filipino runners-up behind reigning champions San Miguel Beermen, has the chance to formalize their entry into the penultimate phase with another win on Wednesday, March 7, at SMART Araneta Coliseum.
“We’re certainly missing our Ginebra crowd here on a Monday night,” said head coach Tim Cone. “Thankful to the people that showed up, I know it’s hard. It’s hard for everybody to change their plans and go out on a Monday.
“We didn’t have our Ginebra crowd so we had to grind this out today, find our own emotion, and I thought the guys did a good job of grinding, making it into a defensive type game and taking care of possessions,” he added.
LA Tenorio led Ginebra with 16 points. Joe Devance, now in his third game with the Barangay, collected 15 points, five assists, and four rebounds. Japeth Aguilar flirted with a double-double as he had 14 markers and nine caroms.
The Barangay only had the chance to pull away midway in the payoff period, turning a one-point lead to a favorable 82-69 cushion as they fired 12 unanswered points behind Devance and Aguilar with 4:54 remaining.
The Elasto Painters inevitably fought back, and Don Trollano’s foul shots narrowed the gap, 80-86, with 1:16 to go. But that proved to be their last gasp, as Tenorio sank his own freebies in the final 46 ticks to bag home the win.
“Luckily we had that stretch where we stretched in the lead in the foruth quarter and hung on,” added the multi-titled bench strategist on the win.
Workhorse Scottie Thompson was all over the place yet again for Ginebra, finishing with 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor alongside a game-high 15 rebounds and seven assists. Sol Mercado chipped in 13.
“Scottie was phenomenal, hit big shots, had big rebounds, defended well. he was shockingly good,” lauded Cone. “He’s always good but he’s shockingly good today. He epitomizes what we do. He was special tonight.”
Beau Belga led the Elasto Painters with 17 points and five rebounds. Ed Daquioag produced 16 markers, and Maverick Ahanmisi supplied 10 points, three caroms, and three assists.
The Scores:
Ginebra 88 — Tenorio 16, Devance 15, J. Aguilar 14, Thompson 14, Mercado 13, Ferrer 6, Mariano 6, Cruz 4, R. Aguilar 0, Caguioa 0.
Rain or Shine 80 — Belga 17, Daquioag 16, Ahanmisi 10, Ponferrada 9, Nambatac 8, Trollano 6, Washington 5, Norwood 4, Tiu 3, Maiquez 2, Almazan 0, Borboran 0.
Quarterscores: 21-23, 44-43, 68-64, 88-80.
