Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Barangay Ginebra rallied from 22 points down to stun NLEX, 91-90, in the 2016 PBA Philippine Cup Sunday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Rookie Scottie Thompson anchored the Kings’ comeback with his free throws putting his team on top, 91-90, with 10.4 seconds left.
Ginebra dodged a bullet after NLEX forward Sean Anthony muffed an attempt from pointblank off a perfect last-second baseline inbound play as time ran out.
“Our guys just really didn’t give up on the game especially our second group. We had a lot of heroes, Scottie, Dave Marcelo, Joe (Devance), Greg (Slaughter) getting those two blocks down the stretch and you have to have that to win a game like that,” said Ginebra head coach Tim Cone.
Thompson, the one-time NCAA MVP out of University of Perpetual Help, collected 14 points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal in 23 minutes of action.
The Road Warriors took a 75-53 buffer late in the third quarter before a layup off a nifty spin move by Thompson tied the game at 83 with 4:14 remaining.
Jonas Villanueva’s corner triple gave NLEX a 90-87 edge at the 1:45 mark of the fourth period, before Greg Slaughter scored on a put back, blocked two shots, with his final denial leading to Thompson’s winning free throws.
The 7-foot Slaughter finished with 18 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks, but it was when he and the other Ginebra starters except for Chris Ellis were on the bench when the Kings made their run led by Thompson.
Thompson, though, didn’t do it alone with Dave Marcelo and Joe Devance, who also came off the bench, providing significant contributions. Marcelo scored eight of his 10 points in the fourth quarter where he went 4-of-5 from the field while Devance shot all of his six points in the final frame.
Asi Taulava paced the skidding Road Warriors, who have now lost four straight games, with a game-high 21 points on top of seven rebounds. NLEX slipped to 4-6.