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The Kings rallied in the fourth quarter behind the trio of LA Tenorio, Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter. The veteran guard contributed crucial threes and quarterbacked the Ginebra offense. He finished with 17 points and seven assists.
He got a lot of help from the twin towers who dominated the paint on both sides of the floor. Aguilar posted 21 points, nine rebounds, four assists and six blocks. Slaughter added 18 markers, nine more rebounds and five rejections.
But an undermanned Ginebra needed contributions from more than just their superstars.
With Joe Devance and Sol Mercado still unavailable due to injuries, Coach Tim Cone called on his bench for back up. He found help in two former UST Growling Tigers, Aljon Mariano and Jervy Cruz. Mariano scored 11 points in 17 minutes. Cruz finished with a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds and held down the paint for Ginebra when the towers were given rest.
With 8:04 remaining in the game, a Mark Caguioa three-point play cut the GlobalPort lead down to a single point. Chants of ‘Gi-ne-bra’ began to come alive inside the Big Dome as fans felt a classic Ginebra comeback coming.
“Ever since napunta ako sa Ginebra, ginagamit talaga namin ang crowd to boost the energy of the entire team. Yung ‘Never Say Die’ attitude is because of the fans,” said Tenorio, who was named Best Player of the Game.
But the Batang Pier found ways to fight it. For a few minutes, at least.
Sean Anthony and Tenorio exchanged threes before Slaughter sank a runner down the middle to tie the game with four minutes left.
The Barangay made a stop and on their next offensive, Mariano sent a lob pass to Aguilar who finally gave the Barangay the lead with a two-handed throwdown.
With 1:13 left in the game, Scottie Thompson maneuvered his way past Julian Sargent, drew a foul and made the layup. He missed the bonus free throw but that bucket still proved to be enough to give his team enough cushion to secure the win.
Early on, however, it seemed as though the Batang Pier had full command of the ball game. Also playing without a key player in Terrence Romeo, GlobalPort turned to Sean Anthony and Stanley Pringle.
Anthony scorched hot in the first quarter. He scored 10 points and went five-for-five from the field. Pringle was an all-around beast. By halftime, he already had eight points, five rebounds and eight assists. The two were largely responsible for the lead that GlobalPort enjoyed up until the third quarter.
“That’s something we need to get better at. We need to get fired up right at the start of basketball games and play,” Cone said as he expressed disappointment over his team’s play in the first three quarters.
Finally, however, they were able to put it together in the payoff period. Ginebra had a strong offensive output in the fourth, but Cone credits the comeback to the defense that they showed.
“We did a good job on Stanley in the fourth quarter. In the first three quarters, he had our number. He was doing whatever he wanted to do,” he added.
Anthony led GlobalPort with 29 points, nine rebounds, three assists and four steals. Pringle came within two rebounds short of a triple double. He finished with 23 points, 10 assists and eight boards.
The Batang Pier also saw solid contributions across their team. Sargent and Kelly Nabong chipped in 12 points each. Jonathan Grey put up nine of his own.
Ginebra improves to 2-0. But by no means is Cone satisfied.
“We kinda stole this one tonight. We can’t expect to steal more games. I’m okay with the win, but I’m not happy about how we played tonight. We need to get better,” he said.
THE SCORES
GINEBRA 104 – Aguilar 21, Slaughter 18, Tenorio 17, Mariano 11, Cruz 10, Thompson 9, Ferrer 8, Caguioa 7, Taha 3.
GLOBALPORT 97 – Anthony 29, Pringle 23, Nabong 12, Sargent 12, Grey 9, Guinto 7, Arana 5, Taha 0, Elorde 0, Flores 0, Gabayni 0.
Quarters: 19-23, 46-48, 68-77, 104-97.
EXTRA DRIBBLES
LA Tenorio overtook Gerry Esplana in the all-time assists leader list. He now ranks 15th, with a career total of 2,464 dimes.
GlobalPort did not attempt a single free throw in the first half. While that suggests that the Batang Pier lacked aggressiveness, it wasn’t the case at all. What they were able to do was score in transition. The Batang Pier had 12 fastbreak points in the first half, compared to only four for Ginebra.
NEXT GAMES
Ginebra – January 12 vs Blackwater Elite at the Mall of Asia Arena
GlobalPort – January 12 vs Rain or Shine at the Mall of Asia Arena
SOURCE: http://sports.tv5.com.ph/basketball/pba/article/ginebra-unleashes-big-fourth-quarter-run-to-turn-back-globalport
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