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Fighting back from 24 points down, Ginebra almost made a comeback to remember after Japeth Aguilar blocked June Mar Fajardo with less than 10 seconds left in regulation.
Barangay Ginebra nearly pulled off a seemingly improbable win, coming back from 24 points down and forcing two overtimes before eventually losing to San Miguel Beer Sunday night.
But looking back, there was a crucial juncture in the game where perhaps, the Gin Kings would’ve loved to redo.
After Japeth Aguilar blocked June Mar Fajardo with less than 10 seconds left in regulation, LA Tenorio caught a pass with about seven seconds left–enough time remaining for Ginebra to setup one last play–if only the veteran playmaker was able to realize the Kings still had a timeout.
But instead, Tenorio ended up taking a hail mary shot as the game went into OT.
“Di ko rin narinig kasi siyempre from the rebound, we were going to the frontcourt,” Tenorio admitted after the Kings’ 111-105 loss.
Tenorio was man enough to take responsibility for his mistake.
“It’s a learning process for us, not only for me,” he said.
“From the rebound pa lang, timeout na eh, so it was a second pass and thinking na we can go all the way. Tabla naman eh, so might as well, but again, we need to be smart about it next time against teams like San Miguel and other strong teams.”
Though he lauded his team for rallying, Tenorio said that it should not be the case for the Gin Kings the next time out.
“It’s a good sign for us na we can go back, pero in the first place hindi dapat mangyari yung ganoong kalaki na lamang. Naubos talaga kami doon sa double overtime,” he said.
“Masyadong malaki yung hinabol namin. Hindi dapat mangyari yun. Kung all the way na dikdikan yun, baka iba ang istorya pero ang laki ng hinabol namin eh. Ang dami naming chances and yung games like this, kailangan naming ipanalo. We need to start strong all the time kasi yung games like this ang kailangan naming ipanalo sa playoffs.”