Overtime

GINEBRA TAKES GAME 4 FROM TNT, MOVES ONE STEP CLOSER TO PBA-BUBBLE TITLE

One more win left for Barangay Ginebra and the Gin Kings will be hailed as the champions of the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup after leaving TNT Tropang Gilas petrified in a 10-point lead of Game 4, 98-88, on Sunday at the AUF Sports Arena and Cultural Center.

/ 7 December 2020

LA Tenorio was in his zone to man the team to bolster 22 points alone from 8-for-14 shooting to go with 6 assists.

“He was really calm under pressure,” head coach Tim Cone said after the game.

Ginebra immediately started with a good position coming from Japeth Aguilar for his 4 straight points, but TNT’s swingman Roger Pogoy tried to keep his pace together to help Tropang Giga but failed to seize the first quarter, 17-14.

While Troy Rosario hit two straight threes during the second quarter which closed the gap to 24-22, yet Jared Dillinger and Scottie Thompson refused to let TNT dream as they let off their 3-point ringless shot. 

Nonetheless, the duo-tandem of Pogoy and Rosario did some work in the second quarter but the Never-Say-Die-squad retaliated by not giving the TNT a comeback in the first half of the game, 49-39.

Tenorio showed that he is a constant for Ginebra as he penetrated the first 3-points in the third quarter and preceded by his fastbreak right after stealing the ball from Rosario. 

Even so, as the time was still ticking Ginebra did not flatter from the smart moves of TNT to end the third quarter, 76-60.

As the lead of Gin Kings went up high with 16 points on the scoreboard, TNT was not able to find the opportunity to bounce back as Ginebra claimed their third victory in the final series with 10 points of margin, 98-88.

“LA Tenorio played a great game tonight. He was excellent in shooting and passing the ball. Ginebra as a team played their game and shot the ball well,” active consultant Mark Dickel said in a text message.

Aguilar and Dillinger were also of great help in the roster of Ginebra after squandering 22 points and 16 points, respectively.

On the other hand, Pogoy alone was able to bolster 34 points out of the 88 points of TNT, still not enough to bring Gin Kings down.

Ginebra and TNT will battle again on Wednesday.

The scores:

GINEBRA 98 – Tenorio 22, Aguilar 22, Pringle 16, Thompson 11, Devance 8, Dillinger 7, Chan 6, Caperal 6, Mariano 0. 

TNT 88 – Pogoy 34, Erram 19, Rosario 16, Enciso 10, Reyes 3, Semerad 2, Castro 2, Vosotros 2, Washington 0, De Leon 0, Montalbo 0. 

Quarters: 17-14; 49-39; 76-60; 98-88.