MANILA, Philippines – The Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings overhauled a huge second quarter deficit to down the NLEX Road Warriors, 90-80, and clinch a quarterfinals berth in the 2016-17 PBA Philippine Cup on Sunday at Cuneta Astrodome.
The Gin Kings found themselves trailing by as much as 17 points, 20-37, midway through the second quarter as Asi Taulava and Glenn Khobuntin took turns in scoring against the Ginebra defense.
But thanks to Scottie Thompson and LA Tenorio, the Gin Kings uncorked a 15-4 run to end the first half, turning what was once a massive deficit into a more manageable four-point hole, 42-46.
Their run, capped by Dave Marcelo's tip-in of a Sol Mercado miss, gave Ginebra the momentum heading into the third quarter. Tenorio and Thompson continued their onslaught in the third frame, with Thompson's corner jumper putting the Gin Kings within two points, 50-52, with 9:30 left.
Tenorio then gave Ginebra the lead for good as he knocked down a triple that made it 53-52 with nine left to play in the third quarter. It was all Ginebra from that point on, as the Gin Kings went on to lead by as much as 15 points, 85-70, in the final quarter.
Ginebra wound up outscoring NLEX, 30-18, in the pivotal third quarter, allowing them to cruise to the win in the fourth period.
The victory allowed Ginebra to conclude their elimination round campaign with a 6-5 win-loss record, and they will finish no lower than seventh in the playoff seeding.
"It's been a struggle for us this conference. We've taken a lot of big punches from everybody, but we're still standing, and we still got a chance," said Cone. "Most likely, we'll finish with the seventh seed, and we'll deal with a team with the twice-to-beat (edge)."
"But at least we avoided San Miguel," he added. "We'd rather see them later."
Tenorio finished with 30 points, nine rebounds, and four assists, while Thompson had a near triple-double of 11 points, eight rebounds, and nine assists. Japeth Aguilar, back from a one-game injury layoff, had seven points and nine boards.
In Yeng Guiao's first conference in charge, NLEX finished with a 2-9 win-loss record, putting them at the bottom of the league standings.
Kevin Alas and Enrico Villanueva had 14 points each, while Bradwyn Guinto had 10 points and 10 boards for the Road Warriors.
The scores:
GINEBRA 90 - Tenorio 30, Devance 19, Mercado 13, Thompson 11, Aguilar 7, Marcelo 4, Ellis 2, Taha 2, Cruz 2, Ferrer 0, Caguioa 0.
NLEX 80 - Alas 14, E. Villanueva 14, Guinto 10, Lanete 8, Lastimosa 7, J. Villanueva 7, Khobuntin 7, Taulava 6, Rios 5, Camson 2, Gotladera 0, Baracael 0.
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