MANILA – Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings and TNT Tropang Giga will battle in the finale of the 2020 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup after disposing their foes at the AUF Sports Arena and Cultural Center in Pampanga last night.
Earl Scottie Thompson drained a go-ahead three-pointer as the Kings pulled off a come-from-behind 83-80 triumph over Meralco Bolts in Game 5 of their best-of-five semifinals.
With the score tied at 80-all following a triple by Bacolodnon Reynel Hugnatan of the Bolts, Thompson drained his own version of a triple with 0.06 remaining in the match to surge the Kings ahead for good.
Thompson finished the match with 20 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, Stanley Pringle tallied 22 markers while LA Tenorio and Japeth Aguilar contributed 14 and 12 markers respectively for the Kings.
Trailing 65-71 midway in the fourth quarter, the Kings rode on the shoulders of Thompson and Pringle to come to within 72-73 before taking the lead at 74-73 on a Tenorio basket.
Four straight points by Thompson and two free throws by Tenorio gave Ginebra an 80-77 advantage with 17 seconds remaining, but Meralco’s Hugnatan knotted the game anew at 80-all with a top of the key triple.
Chris Newsome finished the match with 15 points, Clifford Hodge and Kier John Quinto added 14 markers apiece while Hugnatan and Allein Maliksi contributed 12 each for the Bolts.
The Tropang Giga, on the other hand, secured the other seat in the best-of-seven finale following a 91-81 triumph over Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters in their do-or-die encounter.
The Tropang Giga opened a 22-13 lead with Simon Enciso nailing five straight points, but the Fuel Masters managed to keep it close in the second period. TNT however responded via late hits by Anthony Washington giving them a 40-34 halftime edge.
TNT increased the lead to 46-37 early in the third period after another triple by Washington, but Phoenix rallied to within 43-46 before Jason Castro and Bobby Ray Parks Jr. connived on offense as the Tropang Giga built a 62-53 advantage.
Consecutive points from Parks and Roger Pogoy to start the fourth quarter gave TNT its largest lead at 75-58, but the Fuel Masters made their last push as they rallied to within 79-87 but free throws by Parks iced the win for the Tropang Giga.
Parks finished the match with 26 points, 10 rebounds and six assists while Enciso added 12 markers for the Tropang Giga. Calvin Abueva ended with 23 points, 13 rebounds and six assists for the Fuel Masters.
* FIRST GAME:
BOX SCORE:
TNT 91 – Parks 26, Enciso 12, Washington 11, Pogoy 11, Castro 11, Erram 9, Carey 4, Rosario 4, Montalbo 3, Reyes 0.
PHOENIX 81 – Abueva 23, Wright 13, Perkins 11, Chua 9, Jazul 8, Heruela 7, Rios 6, Mallari 4, Garcia 0.
QUARTERSCORES:
Q1, 25-20; Q2, 40-34; Q3, 62-53; Q4, 91-81.
* SECOND GAME:
BOX SCORE:
GINEBRA 83 – Pringle 22, Thompson 20, Tenorio 14, J. Aguilar 12, Caperal 5, Mariano 5, Dillinger 3, Devance 2, Tolentino 0, Chan 0.
MERALCO 80 – Newsome 15, Hodge 14, Quinto 14, Maliksi 12, Hugnatan 12, Jackson 4, Almazan 4, Amer 3, Black 2, Pinto 0, Jamito 0.
QUARTERSCORES:
Q1, 17-14; Q2, 33-31; Q3, 55-59; Q4, 83-80./PN
