A big sigh of relief for Ginebra.
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s never-say-die spirit have been rekindled once more, and it went ablaze.
On Sunday night infront of a raucus crowd of 10,411 inside the Ynares Center in Antipolo City, the Barangay completed an epic comeback from 18 points down in the third canto to spoil Alaska Aces’ twice-to-beat edge, 85-81.
The hijack made by Ginebra was not surprising at all, since the Barangay have always been identified for years as a team that pushes themselves harder whenever their backs are against the wall.
But what makes the victory more interesting was that the Barangay almost shot themselves in the foot, especially during the closing sequences of the highly-touted quarterfinal affair.
Ginebra led 74-66 at the 7:56 mark of the game’s final chapter, but failed to sustain their eight-point advantage as Alaska were able to trim it to just a solitary point, 80-79, with 2:20 to go.
Luckily for the Ginebra side, Kevin Ferrer, Sol Mercado, and LA Tenorio stepped up big time and came in the clutch, helping the Barangay keep the Aces at bay right until the final buzzer.
It could have been yet another failed comeback had the odds favored the Aces. But for Mercado, who finished with 12 points and six dimes and was also a vital part of Ginebra’s hijack especially in the third, all the team did was resorting to playing with cooler heads.
“We knew that we picked it up offensively [and] relaxed a little. I think we wanted it too bad,” said the 32-year-old. “Coach told us to calm down and let the game come to us and continue to focus on getting stops.”
Mercado, in his part, also had his fair share of unpleasant moments especially during the final minute. He had a chance to widen their 84-81 lead, but he flunked both of his attempts from the foul line with 13.2 ticks left.
As a result, Mercado finished the match with a poor 0-of-6 shooting from the foul line, which he then vowed that it is something he’ll work on the next time.
“I missed all my free throws, so I’m definitely going to get that [back to the] free throw line [in practice],” said Mercado.
One can’t blame Ginebra in being overly aggressive in the final stretch, though. The Barangay badly wanted to win, according to the wide-bodied combo guard, since a loss would mean the end of their run in the All-Filipino conference.
“If we lost, it will be a long break sitting at home so we didn’t want this to end. We gave it our all, everything we had. There was no tomorrow [for us],” said the Filipino-American who averaged 7.0 markers and 2.6 dimes during the eliminations.
Now that he and Ginebra have forced a do-or-die match set this coming Tuesday, Mercado claimed that it will be total mayhem once the opening tip rises up.
“[It will be] An all-out war. If they’re going to bring it, we’re going to bring it. It’s a 50-50 chance for both teams. We’ll give everything we have and live with the result,” vowed Mercado.
