The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel had flashbacks of their Dubai trip on Sunday night when they battled the San Miguel Beermen.
The Middle East trip was unforgettable for the Gin Kings, though for all the wrong reasons. There, they squandered a huge 28-point lead and bowed to the Kiefer Ravena-led NLEX Road Warriors, 116-113.
Then Sunday night versus the Beermen, the Barangay looked on their way to yet another monumental collapse.
Ginebra was able to build a huge 18-point lead, 87-69, in the third quarter, but Von Pessumal powered a furious fourth quarter rally. His triples lifted San Miguel to within just two points, 111-113, with 4:26 left on the game clock.
“Yeah, the same things happened to us again. We just couldn’t make every shot,” recalled coach Tim Cone.
But Cone and his wards did not succumb to pressure. All they needed, he said, was one shot to stop that.
And they got it shortly after. After Japeth Aguilar missed a jumper from the left baseline, Stanley Pringle was in the right place at the right time. Pringle tipped it back in to widen Ginebra’s lead to four, 115-111, with 3:52 left.
For the multi-decorated coach, that shot by the explosive point guard was the one that killed SMB’s momentum.
“We knew we just needed one shot to stop the momentum. We actually got that this time — Stanley’s tip-in.
“That killed their momentum right there. That was a big, big shot that we needed,” added the two-time Grand Slam coach. “That changed the momentum for us and gave us a chance to gather ourselves for the last two, three minutes.”
The Gin Kings then went on to win, 129-124, to snap their two-game skid in the 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup.
Now, Cone hopes that they can keep their momentum heading into yet another Manila Clasico tiff with defending champions Magnolia Hotshots — which dethroned them last season — next Sunday, October 20.
“Big game for us, another big one,” he said. “To play Magnolia and San Miguel back-to-back is an incredible challenge.
“[One week of rest is] good and bad. We’d like to keep our momentum from this game and move to another one, but at least we’ll be fresh and we’ll have time to prepare. Maybe do a couple of new things, new twists before we play Magnolia,” he continued.
“Big game for both teams. They’re coming off a loss to San Miguel, we’re coming off a win to San Miguel. We’re right around each other in the standings. Big game for both teams.”
