BARANGAY Ginebra and Converge typified the intensity of PBA playoff basketball in their sudden death quarterfinal matchup that saw the Gin Kings pull off a 99-98 overtime victory on Sunday night to reach the Philippine Cup semifinals.
But Jeremiah Gray impressed with his calmness when Ginebra needed it most, hitting the three free throws that dragged the game into an extra session and set the stage for Stephen Holt’s own heroics.
READ: Holt trey at the buzzer aids Ginebra's great escape vs Converge
The Fil-Am wingman’s trick to stay cool in pressure-packed moments? Treat it like you’re taking routine free throws in practice.
“Not tough at all,” Gray beamed. “I mean, we practice free throws every day in practice. So, I just took it as just another free throw in practice. So, I knew what we had to do. Knocked them down and just gave our team a chance to win it in overtime and we got it done.”
What makes it more impressive was Gray hadn’t played the entire fourth quarter before entering at the nine-second mark and he hadn’t been to the charity stripe before that point.
It didn’t matter.
After drawing a head-scratching foul on Alec Stockton on the right wing, Gray calmly hit three straight charities to tie the game at 86.
Gin Kings coach Tim Cone praised Gray after making his coach look good with that key substitution late in regulation.
“You can’t say enough about Jeremiah stepping up, coming off the bench, cold, getting the ball, and he almost made that shot,” Cone said. “I mean, that ball went in and out. Then he got the foul, calmly stood there, and made three free throws.”
“That takes a lot of cool and poise. Hats off to him. If that hadn’t happened, Stephen wouldn’t be sitting here right now. I wouldn’t be sitting here,” he added.
But Gray, who finished with nine points on 2-of-4 shooting from deep and two boards in less than 17 minutes, never lost faith even when they were down in the fourth and overtime periods.
“No, I mean, you know, in this day and age, that six-point lead is nothing in this day and age. Especially, we have a four-point line, too. So, I just knew the whole time we have a chance.”
“As long as there's time on the clock, we always have a chance to win. So, I'm just glad my teammates played to the final buzzer. Everyone fought hard from top to bottom and I'm just glad we came out with the win,” he added.
“That NSD character came out for sure.”
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