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[av_heading heading=’Ginebra weathers RoS in PBA PH Cup’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
By ADRIAN STEWART CO
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MANILA – The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings went on a huge finishing run to score a come-from-behind 81-74 win over the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the 2016-2017 Oppo PBA Philippine Cup on Sunday night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Trailing 72-68, halfway through the final frame, the Kings went on a huge run behind Japeth Aguilar to tie the count at 74-all following a long conversion by Sol Mercado.
The Kings took the lead at 76-74 following a perimeter shot by Devance before continuing its run with baskets from Aguilar and LA Tenorio to score its first win of the season.
Aguilar led the way with double-double 23 points and 13 rebounds, while Devance chipped in 13 for the Kings, which improved to 1-1 to tie with the Meralco Bolts and NLEX Road Warriors.
“It was an ugly win, but we just needed to get one under our belts. We didn’t want to start zero-two,” Kings head coach Tim Cone said. “Right now, we’ll take these kinds of wins.”
The Kings went on an early start behind Aguilar, Devance and Earl Scottie Thompson to build a 19-10 lead. But the Painters retaliated behind Jericho Cruz and Raymond Almazan to come to within 40-36 at halftime.
The Painters started strong in the third frame behind Don Trollano, James Yap and Gabe Norwood to build a 49-41 lead. But the Kings quickly answered back to come to within 63-62.
The Painters, however, built another advantage on baskets by Chris Michael Tolomia and Almazan for a 70-64 lead before the Kings unloaded its own rally to tie the score at 74-all.
Almazan finished with 13 points, while Yap contributed 10 markers for the Painters, which slid down to a 2-1 win-loss slate, tying defending champion San Miguel Beermen, TNT Katropa and the Blackwater Elite./PN
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