Barangay Ginebra primed itself up for the second half of its elimination round campaign in the PBA Governors’ Cup by pounding out a win in the exact manner that coach Tim Cone wanted his Gin Kings to do.
“It’s the kind of game we needed—a grind out, down-the-stretch kind of game,” Cone said after a 98-89 win over Rain or Shine in a Petron Saturday Special contest at Smart Araneta Coliseum. “I hope they are all not like this, though.”
The Gin Kings held the Elasto Painters scoreless inside the last 3:50, as they peeled away courtesy of Justin Brownlee and Scottie Thompson to win for the third straight game and continue their assault on the teams in the upper half of the draw by rising to 4-2.
Brownlee was brilliant all around, as usual, shooting 39 points, plucking down 17 rebounds and dishing out eight assists to go with Thompson and LA Tenorio’s identical 11 points.
The Painters, who were hoping to squirm their way inside the magic circle of eight teams that will advance to the quarterfinals, lost for the sixth time in eight outings, dropping into a tie with Alaska and Blackwater and idle Phoenix Pulse.
The Aces got there by churning out a 101-91 decision of the Elite in the first game.
Gabe Norwood scored 14 to pace all local shooters of Rain or Shine. But his triple with 3:50 to go knotted the count for the final time and Rain or Shine would never score again.
Beau Belga added 13 for the Painters, who got 20 points from import Kwame Alexander.
“This was tough from start to finish,” Cone said as his Kings enter a crucial stretch of the eliminations that will still have them play Meralco and tournament leader TNT inside the next two weeks.
“We’re not looking at the win column, we’re looking at the loss column. So long as we’re able to stay among the leaders in the loss column, we’re in good shape.”
And that’s all that matters for Cone, who is juggling coaching the Gin Kings with his duties with the Southeast Asian Games-bound national team.
“The fact that we had to grind this one out is really good for us as a team. We have to play these kinds of games [to] be mentally strong,” he added.
Meanwhile, Alaska coach Jeff Cariaso reveled in the fact that his charges continued to stay resilient regardless of their place in the leaderboard and their chances at a playoff spot.
“[We’re] slowly looking like the team we’re expecting [to be],” he told reporters after dealing the Elite a third straight loss.
“I think more than anything, I’m proud of the guys for sticking to this process that we’re on, understanding that details matter, and just continuing to come to each game focused and engaged despite our record,” Cariaso added.
Such is “Alaska pride,” explained the former Rookie of the Year and member of the Alaska Grand Slam team of 1996 who took over from Alex Compton before the start of the season-ending conference.
That brand of basketball Cariaso harped about was typified the most by two young players: Jeron Teng and Abu Tratter, who accounted for 19 and 18 points, respectively, in the effort that got the Aces back into the win column.
Tratter, formerly of the Elite, hit inside shots to get Alaska going late in the opening period.