By JONAS TERRADO
Game Wednesday (Smart Araneta Coliseum)
7 p.m. – Ginebra vs Meralco
(Ginebra leads series 2-0)
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel has been used to seeing LA Tenorio come through in the clutch for most of a season filled with thrilling victories and close calls that missing such moment would be a surprise.
The big shot expected from Tenorio was seen last night when the veteran guard beat the shot clock with a three-point shot from an area Ginebra fans are familiar with, capping off a searing windup that resulted in a come-from-behind 86-76 victory over the Meralco Bolts and a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven series for the PBA Governors’ Cup crown.
With Ginebra close to committing a violation, Tenorio threw one off Bolts forward Chris Newsome from the top of the key for the decisive shot, 1:07 remaining, to extend Ginebra’s lead to 82-76 while sending most of the 16,159 fans at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in sheer madness.
“He has hit so many of those three-point shots down the stretch so many times and we come to expect it,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone of Tenorio’s shot which happened on the same spot Justin Brownlee hit the dramatic three-pointer that ended the Kings’ eight-year title drought in last year’s Governors’ Cup.
Incidentally, it was Brownlee who not only set up Tenorio’s shot but also started the 17-1 run that allowed Ginebra to move halfway from repeating as champion of the season-ending conference while putting the Bolts in a huge hole after two games in the series.
With Ginebra trailing 75-69 on a layup by Meralco’s Cliff Hodge with 5:58 remaining, Brownlee scored six straight points in more than two minutes to even things up for the final time.
As Meralco’s shot failed to hit the mark, Ginebra made theirs, with Tenorio scored off a Chris Newsome foul, missing the bonus try to make it 77-75 with 2:44 to go. The Kings extended their lead, 79-75, when Scottie Thompson drained two charities from an off-the-ball foul by Baser Amer.
Meralco’s Ranidel de Ocampo made just one foul shot and Jared Dillinger continued his struggles by missing two freebies, setting the stage for Tenorio to virtually seal the deal.
“The dagger was that shot by LA Tenorio,” lamented Meralco mentor Norman Black.
If that wasn’t enough, Tenorio deepened the Bolts’ frustration on the ensuing play, stripping the ball from a driving Amer, allowing Ginebra to score four more for the final count, and closer toward a 10th PBA championship.
Perhaps impressed with Ginebra’s grit-like performance were legends Robert Jaworski and sporadic visitor Francis Arnaiz, the former Ginebra stars who watched the game as if they were still mapping out a plan to give Ginebra its first PBA title in the 1986 Open Conference.
GINEBRA 86 – Brownlee 19, Aguilar 16, Tenorio 14, Devance 10, Thompson 9, Mercado 6, Caguioa 6, Ferrer 3, Slaughter 3.
MERALCO 76 – Durham 25, Amer 10, De Ocampo 10, Hodge 9, Newsome 8, Lanete 6, Dillinger 5, Tolomia 3, Caram 0, Hugnatan 0.
Quarters: 18-24; 40-37; 57-62; 86-76.
