After barely escaping semis sweep, Ginebra prepares for another do-or-die game

Barangay Ginebra pulled off a dramatic win in Game 3 of its semifinals series against Magnolia on Wednesday night but the Gin Kings were hardly in a celebratory mood.

After all, the moment the final buzzer sounded and the roaring crowd had already left Araneta Coliseum, the Kings had barely just kept themselves alive and another do-or-die comes less than 48 hours from now.

“We only got one game, inside the locker room after the game it was nothing, we moved on right away and are thinking about Friday’s game right away,” said Game 3 hero LA Tenorio, who buried the game-winning floater with 14.9 seconds left and sank two free throws with sixth tenths of a second remaining.

Ginebra avoided a sweep but not after having to come back from 18 points down and weathering an endgame rally from Magnolia, which rose from 11 points down late and even regained the lead with 53 ticks to go.

Tenorio fired 11 points alone in the final frame while Justin Brownlee tied his career-high 46 points while also collecting 19 rebounds and three blocks.

“Actually, I was struggling the whole game. I’m just feeling a bit different today but that’s not an excuse. I think the whole team was really focused today but I cannot say that we really played well.”