Gin Kings fight back, secure series opener

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BARANGAY Ginebra coach Tim Cone celebrated on the floor last night and talked in a manner that will make his Gin Kings ready for Game 2 of their Final Four match-up with San Miguel Beer in the PBA Governors’ Cup in a couple of nights.

“It was a good win, but it doesn’t win a series,” Cone said after the Gin Kings rallied to post a 115-108 nipping of the defending champion Beermen for a 1-0 lead in their best-of-five semifinal series at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“It is not that big a deal,” continued the two-time Grand Slam champion coach. “Game 2 (tomorrow) becomes a big deal because San Miguel will put this [loss] away and get focused on the next one.

“Somehow, we have to come out and meet their intensity in Game 2.”

The Gin Kings rallied from deficits of as large as 13 points in the second quarter and put the Beermen away with a 69-point second half, as Justin Brownlee, Sol Mercado and Mark Caguioa took turns in hurting San Miguel when it mattered.

The win was big considering that San Miguel had come into the series as the overwhelming favorite, and the Kings burst that bubble of invincibility even with star point guard LA Tenorio going scoreless.

“Did he go scoreless?” Cone said of Tenorio, who shot 32 in their quarterfinal conquest of Alaska just two nights before. “You’re not going to be carried by the same guy every night.

“LA carried us against Alaska. He may not score a point but he can still be the most impactful player out there. He doesn’t necessarily have to score to make us (look) good.

“But I guarantee you, LA will have more than one big game in this series. And he will come up with that when we need it the most.”

Ginebra worked itself back into the game in the third period, pulling in front at 79-76 and never losing the lead the rest of the way as Caguioa scored all his eight points inside the first 3:25 of the fourth to give the Kings a 92-80 lead.

The Kings, who haven’t won a championship since 2008, built that buffer even with Brownlee and Tenorio riding the bench to rest.

Brownlee finished with 39 points and 16 rebounds, with Japeth Aguilar adding 22 that went with three blocks. Five players scored in twin digits for Cone.

“They haven’t been here (in the Final Four) for a while,” Cone said. “In the first half, we were totally overmatched and we looked like we didn’t belong in the same floor and it was disheartening.

“Our guys not being in this situation (for so long), we really didn’t know how hard we had to play to win an important game like this against a big-time opponent like San Miguel.”

Meanwhile, Meralco coach Norman Black said his Bolts will be ready against TNT KaTropa in Game 1 of their own semifinal duel today, also at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

He said he has reservations on whether the Texters are the best team at this stage of the tournament.

“I guess we’ll find that out [today],” Black said. “Yes, they are playing well. And Jason Castro is just awesome.”

The scores:

GINEBRA 115—Brownlee 39, Aguilar 22, Mercado 19, Devance 12, Thompson 11, Caguioa 8, Mariano 4, Marcelo 0, Tenorio 0, Cruz 0.

SAN MIGUEL 108—Millsap 29, Fajardo 25, Cabagnot 20, Santos 15, Lassiter 14, Tubid 3, Espinas 2, Ross 0.

Quarters: 24-36, 46-57, 79-76, 115-108