Terrafirma stunned Barangay Ginebra, 91-85, to end its skid in the PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup, Sunday night at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Kemark Carino, Stephen Holt, and Juami Tiongson nailed the big buckets down the stretch but the Dyip still needed some luck in the dying seconds on the way to completing the massive upset against the perennial contenders.
“Gusto talagang manalo ng team. Very important ang game; kung matalo kami, mababaon kami,” said head coach Johnedel Cardel.
Tiongson finished with a game-high 25 points, including the pair of free throws to push their lead to 91-79 with 1:29 left to in the game, to lead Terrafirma in just their second win ever against the crowd darlings in 23 meetings.
The first time that the franchise won against Ginebra was in the 2021 Philippine Cup bubble eliminations in Bacolor, where Tiongson fired 30 markers.
Javi Gomez de Liano poured 22 points and six rebounds against the team that drafted him in 2022 only to get traded to the Dyip days later.
Terrafirma improved to 4-3 to take solo fourth in the standings after dealing Ginebra its second loss in a row for a 3-3 card, tied with TNT at fifth.
Carino hit a pair of triples and finished with 12 points. Stephen Holt scored 12 as well and added 11 rebounds and six assists in the victory that put the Dyip two wins away from clinching a spot in the quarterfinals.
Terrafirma will try to catch another big fish in current no. 1 seed San Miguel Beer (4-0) on Wednesday, April 10, 4:30 p.m. in the same venue.
Christian Standhardinger had 21 points and seven rebounds to lead Ginebra, although the two-time BPC was benched in the fourth quarter.
Japeth Aguilar had 18 points, LA Tenorio 11, while Jamie Malonzo added 10 for the Kings in the loss that made Tim Cone sit out of frustration towards the end, leaving the coaching chores to lead assistant Richard del Rosario.
The PBA’s only 25-time champion mentor was a picture of disappointment after seeing his team get off to a flat start, although the Barangay managed to cut the gap to just three points, 64-61, entering the fourth quarter.
But Terrafirma was just calm and collected in repelling their comeback bids, so much so that it led by as many as 13, 89-76, with 2:09 left to play.
Aguilar, Tenorio, and Malonzo tried to will Ginebra back into the match from that big of a deficit, but there was not enough time to complete the rally.
Ginebra will look to bounce back against another skidding team in Blackwater on Friday, April 12, 7:30 at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
The Scores:
Terrafirma 91 – Tiongson 25, Gomez de Liano 22, Carino 12, Holt 12, Go 9, Sangalang 7, Cahilig 2, Alolino 2, Olivario 0, Calvo 0, Ramos 0.
Ginebra 85 – Standhardinger 21, J.Aguilar 18, Tenorio 11, Malonzo 10, Onwubere 9, Ahanmisi 6, Pessumal 6, Pringle 2Cu 2, Pinto 0, R. Aguilar 0.
Quarterscores: 24-17, 41-40, 64-61, 91-85.
