Ginebra outplayed by Magnolia in PBA semis, admits Cone

There won’t be any three-peat celebration for Barangay Ginebra after it got dethroned in the PBA Governors’ Cup even before it reached the king’s hall.

The Gin Kings failed to advance to the finals of the league’s third conference after Magnolia eliminated them in the four games, 112-108, Friday at Ynares Center in Antipolo.

Instead of sulking in defeat, Ginebra head coach Tim Cone is looking at the defeat as a source of motivation for their future campaigns in the PBA.

“Their coach was awesome, he coached a great, great series and we just came up short,” said Cone. “We’ll move forward, move on from it. Hopefully, we’ll use it as motivation going through to the next conference.”

Barangay Ginebra was 1:18 away from sending the series to a deciding fifth game but it couldn’t hold on to its five-point lead, 106-101, that it built just 26 seconds earlier.

The Gin Kings allowed the Hotshots to go on a spirited 11-2 run, capped off by free throws from Paul Lee, with 13.7 seconds left to play, to close out the game.

“They outplayed us, they certainly deserved it,” said Cone who has 21 PBA titles making him the most successful coach in league history.

“We were on fumes down the stretch, in the fourth quarter our guys were tired and we just lacked legs,” said Cone. “We made a couple of errors down the stretch, and they made the free throws, that was it. That’s the story.”