LA Tenorio leads Ginebra. PBA IMAGES
Ginebra charged in the second half and pulled off a 108-97 victory over Alaska to advance to the 2017 PBA Philippine Cup semifinals Tuesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
LA Tenorio took the responsibility of taking the life out of the Aces, unleashing 31 points, three assists, and two rebounds, including the dagger floater to put his side up, 102-91, with 1:32 to play and seal the deal.
But it wasn’t just Tenorio who did the work, as Ginebra also leaned on its young guns to stun the second-seed Aces and overcome a twice-to-win disadvantage.
Aljon Mariano nabbed a career-high 20 markers and eight boards, Kevin Ferrer had 15 points and five rebounds, and Scottie Thompson got 10 markers, nine rebounds, three steals, and two assists to carry the Gin Kings to the Final Four.
“We picked the right time to play our best game of the conference,” said coach Tim Cone. “Our guys played really hard. It almost takes a special kind of group to pull of this kind of thing, and these guys are proving that they are special.”
Ginebra will face Star in the best-of-7 semifinals to begin on Thursday.
The Gin Kings used an 8-0 blast to turn a 63-all deadlock in the third frame to a 71-63 advantage, which they extended to as high as 14, 89-75, on a Japeth Aguilar putback at the 7:17 mark of the fourth period.
Calvin Abueva topped Alaska with 29 points and 13 rebounds, while Vic Manuel got 23 markers and five boards in the defeat.
The Scores:
GINEBRA 108 – Tenorio 31, Mariano 20, Ferrer 15, Thompson 10, Mercado 9, Ellis 9, Marcelo 7, Cruz 5, Aguilar 2, Helterbrand 0, Caguioa 0.
ALASKA 97 – Abueva 29, Manuel 23, Casio 10, Racal 8, Pascual 6, Galliguez 6, Exciminiano 5, Thoss 4, Cruz 3, Dela Cruz 3, Hontiveros 0, Jazul 0, Magat 0, Mendoza 0.
Quarters: 21-25, 51-53, 82-71, 108-97.