ONE King Tamaraw against another.
RR Garcia relished his first PBA meeting against RJ Abarrientos in a matchup of former FEU stalwarts that highlighted the Governors’ Cup game between Barangay Ginebra and Phoenix at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium Friday night.
The Gin Kings rookie got away with the win, 110-101, but Garcia never backed down and led a spirited fightback that brought the Fuel Masters back in the fight after facing as much as a 20-point deficit.
The 34-year-old Garcia showed he still has a lot of gas left in the tank after scoring all but three of his 17 points in the third quarter when Phoenix threatened the crowd darlings, 75-73, after being down by 68-48.
His scoring barrage came just a quarter after Abarrientos exploded for 10 of his 16 points in the second, as Ginebra took a 57-46 lead at the break after a tight first half.
“Ganun naman e, nakaka-shoot siya, nakaka-shoot ako. Challenged ang bawat isa sa amin,” said Garcia of the matchup shortly after the game. “Pero pareho naman kaming taga-FEU, kaya masaya ako para sa kanya.”
Green and gold guards
Although years apart in their stint at Morayta, Garcia said he already knew about the 5-foot-11 Abarrientos while still playing for the Tamaraws from 2010 onwards.
“High school pa lang siya sa FEU, nami-meet ko na yung batang yun kasi si coach Johnny [Abarrientos], assistant (coach) namin,” said Garcia, who was UAAP MVP in 2010.
'The Flying A,' another great FEU guard from a different era, once served as deputy coach of the Tamaraws and is the uncle of the 24-year-old Gin Kings guard.
“So siyempre, masaya akong makita na nag-abot kami dito sa PBA,” Garcia added.
Too bad, the Fuel Masters failed to complete their huge third quarter turnaround and eventually slipped to 0-5 overall in the standings.
That certainly spoiled another hot shooting night for Garcia, who was a perfect 2-of-2 from the four-point line.
“As a veteran, alam ko naman na 'yung role ko dito sa team. Every time na binubunot ako ni coach Jamike [Jarin], binibigay ko lang yung best ko, binibigay ko yung 100 percent ko,” said the guard out of Zamboanga City.
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