MANILA – Japeth Aguilar drilled a go-ahead basket as Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings pulled off an 85-82 escape over Blackwater Bossing in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup last night at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
Down 79-82 with over a minute left, the Kings cut the deficit to 81-82 on two free throws by Earl Scottie Thompson before taking the lead at 83-82 on a perimeter jumper by Aguilar with eight ticks left.
Barangay Ginebra then forced Blackwater’s Baser Amer to a turnover before the Kings sealed the victory on two free throws by Stanley Pringle in the final second of the match.
Christian Standhardinger led the offense with 21 markers, Aguilar chipped in 15 markers, Thompson had a near triple-double 14 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists, while Arvin Tolentino ended up with 12 for the Kings (1-0).
The Kings were ahead early courtesy of triples by Tolentino, but the Bossing clawed its way back for a 39-all halftime score before unloading a massive third quarter to lead by as much as 10 points.
Barangay Ginebra, however, slowly carved its way back in the contest on consecutive inside hits by Standhardinger and a layup by Aljon Mariano for a 79-76 edge but Blackwater answered with shots from Amer and Joshua Torralba to take an 82-79 advantage.
Rey Suerte top-scored with 15 points, Torralba chipped in 14 markers, while Amer and rookie center Renato Ular had 11 and 10 markers, respectively, as the Bossing dropped to 1-1.
In the first game, Jayson Castro saved defending champions TNT Tropang Giga (2-1) from disaster with clutch baskets as they prevailed over Converge FiberXers (1-2), 86-83.
After seeing their 15-point lead turned to an 81-79 deficit, Castro regained the advantage for the Tropang Giga with a three-pointer but the FiberXers quickly got the edge back at 83-82 a tough basket by Regile Ilagan.
Ilagan had an opportunity to seal the win for Converge but misfired on his two freebies with nine seconds left, which led to the go-ahead conversion from Castro with 2.6 ticks remaining in the contest.
Castro finished the game with 17 points, Glenn Khobuntin added 15 markers, while Jeth Troy Rosario, Roger Pogoy and Rodolfo Alejandro Jr. ended up with 13, 12 and 10 markers, respectively, for the Tropang Giga.
BOX SCORE:
GINEBRA 85 – Standhardinger 21, J. Aguilar 15, Thompson 14, Tolentino 12, Pringle 9, Mariano 6, Tenorio 5, Pinto 3, Caperal 0, Chan 0.
BLACKWATER 82 – Suerte 15, Torralba 14, Amer 11, Ular 10, Sena 9, McCarthy 9, Ebona 3, Ayonayon 2, Casio 0, Melton 0, Publico 0, Escoto 0.
Quarterscores: 22-16, 39-39, 61-67, 85-82./PN
