ANTIPOLO - Barangay Ginebra played with the poise of a champion to avoid an upset against a fighting Blackwater side, 85-82, in the Gin Kings' PBA Season 47 Philippine Cup debut on Sunday night.
The Gin Kings went to reigning league MVP Scottie Thompson and Japeth Aguilar for the crucial baskets down the stretch to erase a three-point deficit inside the final minute - but only barely.
[See Cone says Blackwater a 'team to be reckoned with']
Aguilar delivered the biggest basket of the night - a jumper from just outside the shaded line that gave the Gin Kings the lead, 83-82, after a long, long chase.
Compounding Blackwater's endgame woes were coach Ariel Vanguardia running out of a timeout as early as the final three-minute mark and back-to-back turnovers committed by guard Baser Amer .
Until Thompson and Aguillar came through with their timely heroics, the Bossing were holding on to an 82-79 lead with 1:02 to play on back-to-back baskets by Joshua Torralba.
[See This Perpetual loss to Letran haunts Scottie to this day]
“We knew we had a battle in place, but I think it even ended up harder than we thought,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone of the Bossing, who were coming off an 85-79 upset of defending champion TNT in their season debut.
Aguilar finished with 15 points and six rebounds, Thompson fell just an assist short of a triple double with 14 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists, while Stanley Pringle marked his comeback after sitting out the Governors’ Cup with nine points but and 12 rebounds.
Sophomore Rey Suerte led the way for the Bossing (1-1) with 15 points before sitting out the endgame after getting hurt following a collision with Christian Standhardinger.
The Bossing led by as many as 64-54 in the third period and appeared ready to take down another reigning league champion after taking a three-point edge with 62 seconds left before endgame blunders cost them.
The scores:
Ginebra (85) - Standhardinger 21, J.Aguilar 15, Thompson 14, Tolentino 12, Pringle 9, Mariano 6, Tenorio 5, Pinto 3, Chan 0, Caperal 0.
Blackwater (82) - Suerte 15, Torralba 14, Amer 11, Ular 10, McCarthy 9, Sena 9, Ebona 3, Ayonayon 2, Publico 0, Escoto 0, Melton 0, Casio 0.
Quarterscores: 22-16, 39-39, 61-67, 85-82.
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