LA Tenorio thanked the Ginebra faithful inside the SMART Araneta Coliseum for helping the Gin Kings unleash its NSD spirit en route to beating Phoenix Super LPG to remain unbeaten in the 2021-22 PBA Governors’ Cup.
“Itong game na ‘to, hindi ‘to mag-oovertime kung hindi dahil sa kanila,” the 37-year-old said moments after the 125-121 overtime victory.
Tenorio himself was on the forefront of the come-from-behind victory. He finished with 15 points, none bigger than the big three-pointers he hit in the clutch that ultimately helped the Barangay improve to 3-0.
The decorated floor general was responsible for sending the game into an extra five minutes. He hit one from the top of the key with 1.2 seconds left in regulation, as he got freed after evading the close-out of Paul Harris.
That’s quite a way to redeem himself from a miscue earlier. He turned it over from a miscommunication with Scottie Thompson, which led to an Aljun Melecio breakaway lay-up that gave the Fuel Masters a 112-107 lead with 42.1 left.
Tenorio went on to put the game away for good, sinking a long bomb off a Justin Brownlee assist with 9.2 ticks left to play to settle the final count.
He actually flirted with a triple-double as he also finished with eight rebounds and nine assists in the 45 minutes and 13 seconds he played.
“Actually going to this game, we’re really expecting na this is gonna be a grind-out game. Phoenix is a strong team so we’re ready. It just happened na si Justin made the right decision on passing the ball,” he said.
But then again, as impressive as he was, Tenorio said that it’s all because of the fans in attendance that enlivened him and Ginebra.
For the 16-year veteran, it was a feeling that all of the Barangay missed immensely after playing in empty arenas in the last two conferences.
“Sobrang namiss naman sila,” said Tenorio, who’s been with the league’s most popular ball club since 2012. “Two years. Two years namin silang hindi nakita.
“‘Yun ang hinahanap namin — dalawang bubble, ;yan ang hinahanap namin. Medyo kami ata yung may pinaka nagkaroon ng weird na feeling na naglalaro ng walang fans. Nagpapasalamat kami.”
