RJ ABARRIENTOS made the game-winning basket for Barangay Ginebra after he committed a foul that nearly extended their tussle with Magnolia in the PBA 50th Season Commissioner's Cup.
READ: RJ Abarrientos' clutch basket for Ginebra foils Magnolia ambition
The Gin Kings ran a perfect play after an 89-89 tie when Scottie Thompson's inbound pass went to a cutting Abarrientos, who then hit a layup against Hotshots forward Zavier Lucero with 6.3 seconds left.
Abarrientos more than made up for his foul on Mark Barroca on the previous play while the latter was taking a three-point shot. The Magnolia veteran calmly drained all free throws to tie the tally with eight seconds to play, and the game seemed headed to overtime.
But Abarrientos made sure there will be no more extra five minutes.
“Hindi para sa akin yun,” he said of his game-winning play afterward. “Naghahanap lang talaga kami ng option from that eight seconds. Ang dami naming options eh, si Norbert [Torres], si Troy [Rosario], si Justin [Brownlee]. Ako lang talaga yung nalibre. Saka nag-usap kami ni Scottie talaga dun sa last play na yun.”
Ginebra coach Tim Cone, however, said otherwise.
"That was the play that was set up. It was either him on the curl or Justin on the pop back. Scottie made a really, really great pass and RJ made a tough shot between big guys to make that and get us ahead. We weren't expecting to shoot that quickly. We wanted to take the last shot, but if it was presented to us, we need to take it," he said.
"Scottie and RJ did a good job of taking that. They (Magnolia) were so locked in to stopping Justin. Their eyes are all on Justin that they were able to slip RJ in and get an inside basket."
No harm, no foul
It was much-welcome redemption for Abarrientos, who was adamant even on the floor that he didn't foul Barroca, even saying ‘no way' repeatedly, as he ran towards the Gin Kings bench to ask Cone to challenge the foul.
The challenge was not successful and the foul stood.
“Ganun talaga basketball eh,” he said about the call. “Bilog ang bola. Any given time talaga, may mangyayaring ganun. Kailangan talaga bumawi next play. Tinawag na ng referee, pinito na, so wala nang dapat iangal.”
Still, Abarrientos restressed that it was not a foul.
“Wala eh, walang foul,’’ he said in jest.
Despite the win, Abarrientos still rued the way he and his teammates played in the third quarter where they were outscored, 31-19, keeping Magnolia in the game.
“Hats off din sa coaches namin na nakapag-adjust din, lalo na nung first half, talagang nakapag-ipon kami, nakapag-invest kami,” he said, referring to the 15-point halftime lead that they built.
“Pero kailangan lang namin i-work yung third quarter namin, pagpasok ng second half. We can work on that.”
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