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Ginebra halted its three-game losing skid and dealt San Miguel its first defeat, 100-96, in the 2018 PBA Philippine Cup Sunday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Despite missing Greg Slaughter in the rematch of last year’s all-Filipino Cup Finals, the Gin Kings drew huge contributions from Jervy Cruz and unheralded big man Raymond Aguilar while also getting big games from LA Tenorio and Japeth Aguilar.
Cruz fired 10 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter while Raymond Aguilar stepped up with 16 points. Tenorio had 23 points, four rebounds and six assists while Aguilar also scored 23 to go along with nine rebounds.
“It was tough. Who would’ve thought that we can come out and win that game after the way we’ve played the last three games?” said Ginebra head coach Tim Cone as the Gin Kings leveled their record to 3-3.
“Today, we played a very controlled game and was able to make plays. At the start of the game, I thought this is a mismatch. The first quarter looked like an absolute mismatch and we had no chance. But our guys dug in, made a run at halftime, and carried that momentum in the second half. We got ahead and started believing. I think we forgot how good of a team we can be.”
Starting slow and falling behind by 16, 33-17, in the first half, Ginebra swung the momentum to its favor as it staged a telling 22-2 blast in the third quarter to take a 68-61 lead.
The Gin Kings even held a 10-point lead, 97-87 with 2:10 remaining before the Beermen made one last rally, bringing the lead down to two, 97-95 with 1:00 left to play.
Tenorio could only muster a split on his free throw with 24.6 seconds remaining, opening the door for San Miguel. Arwind Santos, however, muffed a couple of game-tying 3-pointers and Chris Ross was called for a technical foul for deliberately shooting a free throw that was supposedly for Chico Lanete with 4.5 ticks left that led to another freebie by Tenorio.
Lanete made his first charity and intentionally missed his second, but a fight for the loose ball gave Ginebra the possession. Aguilar was fouled and he sealed the game at the line.
It was a valiant effort from four-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo, who anchored his side with 33 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, and four steals in the defeat.
Lassiter and Ross both had 16 markers and combined for 15 boards and nine dimes as San Miguel saw its five-game winning run snapped.
The Scores:
GINEBRA 100 — Tenorio 23, J. Aguilar 23, Cruz 17, R. Aguilar 16, Ferrer 11, Thompson 6, Caguioa 2, Mercado 2, Wilson 0.
SAN MIGUEL 96 — Fajardo 33, Ross 16, Lassiter 16, Santos 12, Lanete 7, Ganuelas-Rosser 6, Pessumal 4, Heruela 2, De Ocampo 0, Mamaril 0.
Quarters: 19-33, 44-52, 75-66, 100-96.