Ginebra pulled away late to beat NLEX, 95-86, to take Game One of their PBA Governors’ Cup semifinal series, Wednesday night at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Gin Kings unloaded a blistering 15-0 run to break the deadlock and make it a 93-78 lead with 2:17 left on the way to completing the comeback from a 16-point deficit in the second period.
Head coach Tim Cone, however, couldn’t celebrate even if they’re now up 1-0 in the best-of-five series as Japeth Aguilar left the game barely two minutes in the third quarter due to an calf injury.
“I’d be really happy right now and excited that we got Game One, but it’s kinda tempered because we lost Japeth and we don’t know the status of Japeth yet,” he said, as the star forward got hurt after trying to block Cameron Clark’s shot.
“We really won’t know that until tomorrow because we’ll have to see how much it swells, how much pain he has, and we won’t know that until tomorrow,” furthered the champion mentor.
Justin Brownlee led Ginebra with 27 points, 14 rebounds, six assists, a game-high four blocks, and a steal.
LA Tenorio finished with 19 points, six rebounds, and six assists. Scottie Thompson supplied 15 markers and 10 boards as the trio, time and again, joined hands in that finishing kick.
“I’m glad we certainly finished it strong because we really needed the game, we needed the win because we don’t know exactly where Japeth is gonna be,” offered Cone.
“Calf injuries are really difficult. It was really important that at least we got the first game so we kinda have that margin for error playing without Japeth for the rest of the way,” he added.
The Barangay also received a solid contribution from sophomore Arvin Tolentino with his 11 points.
“He stepped up today and hit some shots. He’s been really struggling. I’m so happy for Arvin right now,” Cone said.
Cameron Clark led NLEX with 30 points and 13 rebounds in the loss where he received little help from the locals.
Kevin Alas was his only backup with 17 points. JR Quinahan and Tony Semerad combined for 16 for the Road Warriors.
Game Two is on Friday at 3 p.m., still at the MOA Arena.
The Scores:
Ginebra 95 – Brownlee 27, Tenorio 19, Thompson 15, Tolentino 11, Standhardinger 10, Chan 7, J.Aguilar 4, Pinto 2, Onwubere 0, Caperal 0, Enriquez 0
NLEX 86 – Clark 30, Alas 17, Semerad 8, Quinahan 8, Trollano 6, Paniamogan 5, Nieto 4, Chua 3, Rosales 3, Varilla 2, Ighalo 0
Quarterscores: 23-29, 43-45, 70-64, 95-86
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