MANILA, Philippines–Barangay Ginebra pulled out all crucial stops down the stretch to hold off TNT, 80-72, and stay alive in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals Tuesday night at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
Skipper LA Tenorio paced the Gin Kings with 16 points, while Justin Brownlee tossed in a near triple-double of 14 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists to keep the crowd darlings’ championship defense intact.
“We got one but one is obviously not good enough,” said coach Tim Cone, who also drew significant contributions from veteran Joe Devance who finished with 13 points off the bench.
TNT got the goods from import Terrence Jones who fired 24 points and grabbed 18 rebounds. Three more from the starters chipped in twin digits for KaTropa, who trailed for the most part of the match but still lead the best-of-five series 2-1.
“But it was really tough just getting one game. We’ll see if we could turn it around and get two,” said Cone, whose Gin Kings shoot for an equalizer on Thursday night at Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
The Scores
Ginebra 80 – Tenorio 16, Brownlee 14, Devance 13, Thompson 10, Pringle 9, Slaughter 8, Aguilar 6, Caguioa 4.
TNT 72 – Jones 24, Rosario 12, Pogoy 10, Castro 10, Trollano 9, Heruela 3, Washington 2, Taha 2, Reyes 0, Semerad D. 0.
Quarterscores: 21-14, 42-32, 57-57, 80-72.