LA TENORIO of Ginebra goes for a shot as Stanley Pringle of GlobalPort defends. AUGUST DELA CRUZ
Considering what was at stake, GlobalPort played its finest game in its four years in the PBA last night and finally barged into an arena where only the big boys truly hold court.
Stanley Pringle stood out in a wild endgame that helped the Batang Pier pull out a controversial 84-83 overtime over Barangay Ginebra in their Smart Bro-Philippine Cup KO game that put GlobalPort in a Final Four series for the first time.
Pringle scored the last of his 25 points with 58.6 seconds left and then ran out the clock to wriggle out of Ginebra trap in the final eight seconds, which fueled the controversy as the Ginebra coaching staff claimed it was a violation of the five-second ball-hogging rule.
Fans at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay refused to leave the venue way after the final buzzer had sounded as coach Tim Cone stormed to the middle of the court to protest the non-call which could have given possession back to the Gin Kings for one final try at the winner.
League officials went to the press room to inform the media that Ginebra has until 12 noon today to file a formal protest, along with the payment of a bond of at least P20,000.
It was a painful way for the Ginebra campaign here to end, considering that the Gin Kings were highly fancied over the Batang Pier and that they had just come from a Christmas miracle just two nights before over the Star Hotshots.
Terrence Romeo drained 23, including the first basket of overtime, a triple, with 3:53 left that broke a 74-all tie forged by a running Billy Mamaril jumper off the glass with 4.1 seconds left in regulation.
The win advanced the Batang Pier opposite elimination round topnotcher Alaska in a best-of-seven affair.
“The players just showed that they deserve to be in the semifinals,” a proud GlobalPort coach Pido Jarencio told reporters.
Greg Slaughter paced Ginebra with 25 points and 18 rebounds.
The scores:
GLOBALPORT 84—Pringle 25, Romeo 23, Washington 13, Yeo 11, Mamaril 4, Kramer 3, Semerad 3, Jensen 2, Maierhofer 0, Pena 0, Sumang 0.
GINEBRA 83—Slaughter 25, Tenorio 18, Devance 12, Caguioa 9, Mercado 9, Aguilar 6, Cruz 4, Ellis 0, Marcelo 0, Thompson 0.
Quarters: 18-16, 33-32, 53-53, 74-74 (reg.), 84-83