Barangay Ginebra San Miguel guard Stanley Pringle nailed a dagger three-point basket to power the Kings to a 95-91 win over the Changwon LG Sakers Tuesday night in the Asian Showdown 2 exhibition game at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
With the Kings up by two points, 90-88, Pringle converted a triple from the left corner just right in front of the Ginebra bench for a 93-88 lead with 9.3 seconds left in the game.
The visiting Sakers answered with a three-point play to trim Ginebra’s lead to two points, 93-91, but LA Tenorio put the finishing touches as he buried two free throws with 0.9 seconds to play.
With the win, the crowd darling Ginebra finished their pre-conference tune-up matches with a 3-1 win-loss record while avenging their setback to the Sakers last Friday.
Returning import Justin Brownlee led Ginebra with 27 points, while LA Tenorio contributed 15 points.
The team of coach Tim Cone used the mini tournament as part of their buildup for the Governors’ Cup as Ginebra tries to regain the championship it won back in 2016 and 2017.
Cone said he’s happy to win one against Korea – even if it’s against one of the top commercial teams in the Korean Basketball League (KBL) and not the national team – following his experience with the Philippine Team.
“We played them well. We knew it was going to be tough,” said Cone.
“To be honest it’s always a delight to win against a Korean team – especially what happened in the Asian Games,” added Cone, referring to the PH team’s 103-83 loss to Korea in the second round of the 1998 Asian Games in Thailand. (Waylon Galvez)
