Ginebra needed to fend off an all-Filipino TNT in the endgame before walking away with the 89-85 victory to secure a quarterfinal spot in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup, Sunday night at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The Kings saw their 17-point lead melt as the Tropang Giga tied the game up at 81 heading into the final two minutes, but the latter crumbled after committing turnovers that soon allowed the former to notch their fifth win in a row.
“We’re lucky to walk out with the win,” exhaled head coach Tim Cone as the Barangay won five straight under him for the first time.
Ginebra improved to 7-2, edging out Converge to rise to third in the standings and join early playoff entrants Bay Area, Magnolia, and the FiberXers.
Justin Brownlee led the way with 21 points, scoring the Kings’ last four points to preserve the efforts of Scottie Thompson and Christian Standhardinger in putting their side ahead once more when the Tropa tied it up.
Standhardinger broke the deadlock with a jumper with 2:22 left, and Thompson followed it up to stretch the gap to four approaching the final minute.
They’d go on to keep their foes at bay since, with Brownlee doing his part to provide responses to the hits of Poy Erram and Brian Heruela to ultimately allow the crowd darlings to escape with the narrow four-point win.
“They were dropping like flies but they kept coming at us. It was a well-coached game and I scrambled to keep up,” said Cone as TNT, already without Cam Oliver due to an injury, lost Jayson Castro in the third after hurting his ankle.
Stanley Pringle made his presence felt as well with 12 points while Thompson finished with 10 points, six assists, and four rebounds.
The win has also enabled Ginebra to stay in the hunt for a Top 2 finish, and will certainly try to go after that when it takes on NLEX, NorthPort, and Converge for its last three assignments of the elimination round.
TNT, meanwhile, leaned on Mikey Williams’ 20 points in the near-upset. Roger Pogoy backed him up with 18 while Poy Erram added 16.
The Tropang Giga fell to a precarious position at 4-6, and will definitely try to keep their hopes up in their last two eliminations games this week — first against Bay Area on Wednesday, and then San Miguel Beer on Saturday.
The Scores:
Ginebra 89 – Brownlee 21, Pringle 12, Thompson 10, J.Aguilar 9, Tenorio 8, Mariano 8, Malonzo 8, Standhardinger 8, Gray 5, Pinto 0.
TNT 85 – M.Williams 20, Pogoy 18, Erram 16, Khobuntin 10, Castro 7, Oftana 6, K.Williams 4, Tungcab 2, Heruela 2, Ganuelas-Rosser 0, Soyud 0.
Quarterscores: 34-22, 53-45, 68-71, 89-85.
