MANILA – LA Tenorio came up with clutch hits as Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings stayed alive in the 2018 PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals with a 107-103 Game 3 win over Magnolia Hotshots on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
With the scores tied 103-all, Tenorio broke the deadlock with a floater with 14 seconds left. After a missed triple by the Hotshots’ Paul Lee, Tenorio iced the match for the Kings with two free throws.
Tenorio finished the match with 14 points, five rebounds and five assists for the two-time defending Governors’ Cup champions, which trimmed the deficit to 1-2 in the best-of-five semifinals.
Justin Brownlee led the way with 46 points, 19 rebounds and five assists, while Earl Scottie Thompson and Japeth Aguilar contributed 15 and 11 markers, respectively, for the Kings.
Despite a strong start in the first period where the Kings went up by 8 points, the Hotshots came back stronger in the second period behind Andy Mark Barroca for a 58-40 lead.
The Kings began their run in the third behind Brownlee and Joe Devance to trim the deficit 57-66. The Hotshots pulled back to 74-61 but Brownlee unloaded consecutive points to give the lead to the Kings 79-78.
In the fourth, it was the turn of the Kings’ locals to contribute with Tenorio, Solomon Mercado and Jeffrei Chan converting from inside and outside for their largest lead 100-89.
The Hotshots came back charging behind Jio Jalalon and Paul Lee to regain the advantage 103-101 on a basket by Romeo Travis. Thompson tied the count 103-all for the Kings with a put-back on a missed shot by Tenorio.
Barroca led the Hotshots with 19 points, while Lee and Ian Sangalang added 17 and 16 markers, respectively. Travis struggled heavily on the offensive end to finish with 12 points on 5-of-17 shooting./PN
