Are you ready for a Semifinals Clasico?
After erasing an 11-point Alaska lead in Game One, the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel completely eliminated the Alaska Aces from the 2016-17 Philippine Cup title picture, 108-97, to advance to the semifinals, Wednesday evening in front of a raucous SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
This was just the 12th time in league history that a lower seed had eliminated a team that is armed with a twice-to-beat edge in the quarterfinals. The last time it happened was back in the 2014 Commissioner’s Cup, when the Air 21 Express stunned the second-seeded San Miguel Beermen.
“We picked the right time to play our best game of the conference,” Ginebra head coach Tim Cone said. “I’ve been on the other side of this before when Powerade eliminated us before in my first season with Star.”
LA Tenorio was instrumental in the victory, scoring 31 points, including a huge pull-up jumper with 1:34 left that halted any momentum Alaska were trying to gain. He was 8-of-20 from the field and a cool 13-of-13 from the charity stripe.
After a close first half, Ginebra were able to take control of the game in the third frame behind Tenorio’s 13 third-quarter points. The Gin Kings led by as many as 14 points, and Alaska could not get the lead down past the nine-point barrier the rest of the way.
“LA was our leader on the court,” Cone said about Tenorio.
Aljon Mariano also dropped his career-high in the game, scoring 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting to go along with seven rebounds. Rookie Kevin Ferrer added 15 markers, six coming from the charity stripe.
“Aljon and Kevin stepped up big for us,” Cone added. But the multi-titled mentor admitted that he was not surprised about how Mariano played saying, “I think in any knockout game, you have to be the aggressor. You never hear any team that wasn’t aggressive winning. Our young guys were aggressive. Aljon practiced well and he takes advantage of the opportunity. We weren’t surprised that he played well.”
Scottie Thompson flirted with a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. Ginebra were without Joe Devance due to plantar fasciitis.
Ginebra shot 47 percent from the field compared to 45 percent for Alaska. However, Ginebra had 44 free throw attempts in the game, converting on 34, while Alaska went just 17-of-31 from the charity stripe. The stingiest defense in the league also scored 23 of their points from Alaska’s 17 turnovers.
Calvin Abueva paced Alaska with 29 points and 13 rebounds. Vic Manuel added 23 points on a 66 percent shooting clip off the bench.
Game One of the Ginebra-Star series will start on Thursday, February 9, at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum. The last time the two teams faced in the semifinals was back in the 2013-14 Philippine Cup when Star defeated Ginebra 4-3.
The Scores:
Ginebra 108 – Tenorio 31, Mariano 20, Ferrer 15, Thompson 10, Mercado 9, Ellis 9, Marcelo 7, Cruz 5, Aguilar 2, Helterbrand 0, Caguioa 0.
Alaska 97 – Abueva 29, Manuel 23, Casio 10, Racal 8, Pascual 6, Galliguez 6, Exciminiano 5, Thoss 4, Cruz 3, Dela Cruz 3, Hontiveros 0, Jazul 0, Magat 0, Mendoza 0.
Quarterscores: 21-25, 51-53, 82-71, 108-97
