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Barangay Ginebra pulled out an epic 97-96 Game 3 victory over San Miguel Beer last night, leaning on a Japeth Aguilar jumper at the buzzer for a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five semifinal series against the Beermen in the PBA Governors’ Cup at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
But coach Tim Cone still doesn’t believe that they will have momentum when they go for the kill tomorrow night.
“Winning one game doesn’t give you momentum,” Cone said after the victory in front of more than 14,000 screaming souls.
“You have to win more than one game; two gives you a chance (to gain momentum) and three gives you momentum,” Cone went on. “But to me, a playoff series is more of a ping-pong match. We just held serve. We have to [break serve] in Game 4.”
Justin Brownlee had 25 points, Aguilar finished with 22, LA Tenorio had 20 points and Scottie Thompson became the first homegrown rookie in 23 years since Johnny Abarrientos to complete a triple-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
Tenorio also nearly completed a T-D of his own, grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing out nine assists.
The Beermen had the lead with 42 seconds remaining after an Arwind Santos jumper only for them to fail to collar a rebound when it truly mattered: The Aguilar attempt was the third try for the Gin Kings in that final possession.
Game 4 is slated tomorrow also at the Big Dome, with Cone refusing to dwell on having a twice-to-beat edge.
“Thinking like that makes you kampante (complacent),” Cone said.
Meanwhile, Meralco would have to survive the rest of its best-of-five Final Four series with TNT KaTropa sans do-it-all swingman Jared Dillinger, who is out with torn hamstring.
The Bolts break their 1-1 tie with the Texters at 7 p.m. today at the Big Dome.
Jimmy Alapag, on the other hand, needs just six more three-point shots to dislodge the great Allan Caidic for the most number of triples made. Alapag went 4-for-4 in that Game 2 win to move closer to Caidic’s record total of 1,242.
In another development, Terrence Romeo inked a three-year, maximum extension with GlobalPort worth over P15 million, excluding won-game bonuses and other perks.
The scores:
GINEBRA 97—Brownlee 25, Aguilar 22, Tenorio 20, Thompson 12, Devance 5, Mariano 4, Helterbrand 3, Caguioa 2, Cruz 2, Mercado 2, Marcelo 0.
SAN MIGUEL BEER 96—Millsap 24, Lassiter 15, Santos 15, Cabagnot 13, Fajardo 11, Tubid 10, Ross 8, De Ocampo 0.
Quarters: 29-28, 51-55, 78-77, 97-96