Barangay Ginebra warded off Rain or Shine, 83-77, to bounce back in the 2021 Honda PBA Philippine Cup, Wednesday night at the Don Honorio Ventura State University Gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.
Scottie Thompson struck the dagger triple with 27.2 seconds left to play, ending a 7-0 run that gave the Gin Kings a comfortable 82-74 lead after the Elasto Painters knocked within one twice from being down 10 early in the fourth.
The reigning champions redeemed themselves from a shocking 90-95 defeat in the hands of Terrafirma last September 4 to improve to 3-3.
“We played the game the way we wanted to play it, and this is the first time in this conference that I felt like we played the game and tempo we wanted to play in,” offered head coach Tim Cone postgame.
Christian Standhardinger top-scored with 16 points, alongside six rebounds and five assists in the victory. Japeth Aguilar and LA Tenorio made 15 points each, with the 6-foot-9 forward adding 11 boards to his name.
Thompson supplied 14 points as he went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, on top of six rebounds, six assists, two steals, and a block. Prince Caperal and Stanley Pringle chimed in 11 and 10 markers, respectively.
“We came in here a little comfortable on what we wanted to do and our plan. And I thought we did that. We executed it really well in terms of our defense, and even our offense. I thought we did a good job tonight,” Cone said.
Tenorio was the one who pushed the Barangay’s lead to 10, 60-50, just mere seconds into the final period. But the Elasto Painters slowly chipped away the deficit and got by a solitary point, 74-75, with 2:37 remaining.
Standhardinger, however, responded with a bucket of his own. Tenorio then made a baseline jumper moments later, followed by that big Thompson trey that gave Ginebra the eight-point edge with less than 30 ticks to go.
Rey Nambatac still tried to will RoS back as he made all three of his free throws but Caperal sank his freebies with 13 seconds left. A last-ditch effort by the other team that led to an error sealed the win for the Gin Kings.
“We let our defense do the talking for us tonight. We played a really good defensive team tonight in Rain or Shine. They are statistically the top defensive team in the league,” Cone offered.
The win served as a fitting welcome for veteran Joe Devance, who rejoined Ginebra this morning from a knee injury. He was brought in with 4:08 left in the second quarter and played the entirety of it.
Meanwhile, Nambatac led Rain or Shine with 18 points in the defeat, their second in a row after their 17-point collapse to Phoenix last September 2.
Rookie Anton Asistio had 14 points, while Beau Belga finished with 12 markers and six boards as the Elasto Painters dropped to 4-4.
Both teams will see action once more on Friday, September 10. Ginebra will battle San Miguel Beer (4-2) at 7:00 p.m., while Rain or Shine takes on Magnolia (6-2) at 12:30 p.m. to open the triple-header.
The Scores:
Ginebra 83 – Standhardinger 16, Tenorio 15, Aguilar 15, Thompson 14, Caperal 11, Pringle 10, Mariano 2, Dillinger 0, Devance 0, Ayaay 0.
Rain or Shine 77 – Nambatac 18, Asistio 14, Belga 12, Torres 10, Mocon 9, Yap 5, Borboran 4, Caracut 3, Wong 2, Guinto 0, Norwood 0, Santillan 0.
Quarterscores: 21-23, 35-35, 57-50, 83-77.
