By JONAS TERRADO
NLEX capitalized on a pair of endgame mistakes by Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s LA Tenorio to pull off a stunning 86-85 victory Sunday that extended their PBA Governors’ Cup semifinal series at the Mall of Asia Arena.
With the game tied at 83-all, import Cam Clark intercepted Tenorio’s crosscourt pass intended for Justin Brownlee before converting a three-point play with 7.3 seconds left that stunned most of the 13,000 fans inside the Pasay City venue.
Ginebra still had a chance to tie the game on a three-pointer, but Tenorio, unaware of the situation, opted to go all the way for the layup with less than a second to go, virtually ending the game in NLEX’s favor.
The Road Warriors could only thank their lucky stars after getting the needed breaks when it mattered after squandering several leads in the fourth quarter.
But NLEX wouldn’t mind taking the victory in such a crazy manner, thus reducing Ginebra’s lead in the best-of-five series to 2-1.
Game 4 is set Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, with NLEX hoping to come away with another victory that could send the series to a deciding fifth game.
Clark had 21 points, 17 rebounds, four assists and five steals, but he had plenty of support from the locals this time.
Kevin Alas scored 15 points, Justin Chua had 13 while fellow big man Raul Soyud added 11 points and six rebounds.
Philip Paniamogan and Don Trollano both failed to score in double figures, but there were also key in the win.
Paniamogan scored all of his nine in the third, all three converted shots coming from downtown, as NLEX was able to overhaul a double-digit deficit.
His steal off Ginebra import Justin Brownlee set up Alas’ basket to even things out at 78-all with under four minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Alas later hit a three to put NLEX in front 81-78, before taking another three-point gap on Chua’s layup for 83-80, under a minute left.
Brownlee got fouled and split his foul shots, but an offensive rebound by Arvin Tolentino allowed him to score a baseline jumper to tie it at 83-all, setting the stage for the wild finish.
Chua missed a turnaround shot, Ginebra got the rebound before the incredible sequence occurred.
Brownlee finished with 27 points, 12 rebounds and five steals but the Gin Kings couldn’t get the job done in their first chance to finish off the Road Warriors.
Christian Standhardinger had 16 points and 16 rebounds, Scottie Thompson posted 13 points and eight assists while Tenorio made 10 points and nine assists with four turnovers.
The scores:
NLEX 86 — Clark 21, Alas 15, Chua 13, Soyud 11, Paniamogan 9, Rosales 7, Miranda 4, Trollano 4, Semerad 2, Nieto 0.
GINEBRA 85 — Brownlee 27, Standhardinger 16, Thompson 13, Tenorio 10, Tolentino 9, Devance 6, Caperal 2, Chan 2, Pinto 0.
Quarters: 16-19, 36-44, 59-62, 86-85.
