MANILA – Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings survived Rain or Shine Elasto Painters’ late uprising to post an 83-77 triumph in the 2021 Philippine Basketball Association’s (PBA) Philippine Cup last night at the Don Honorio Ventura State University Gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.
After seeing their massive advantage of 60-50 whittled down to 63-64, the reigning champions Kings scored a 71-63 lead against the Painters on inside baskets by Japeth Aguilar and Christian Standhardinger.
Rain or Shine made one final drive to tie the game at 72-73 on a three-pointer by Rey Nambatac, but Barangay Ginebra responded with two-pointers from Standhardinger, Stanley Pringle, and LA Tenorio, as well as a triple by Earl Scottie Thompson, to seal the victory.
Standhardinger led the Kings with 16 points, while Aguilar and Tenorio both added 15 markers. Thompson chipped in 14 points as the Kings moved to a 3-3 win-loss record.
Nambatac scored 18 points, while rookie Anton Asistio tallied a career-high of 14 points as the Painters dropped to a 4-4 slate.
Meanwhile, Ian Sangalang came alive in the second overtime (OT) period as Magnolia Pambansang Manok Hotshots (6-2) crushed NLEX Road Warriors (4-3), 112-105.
Sangalang began the second OT period with straight inside conversions, vaulting the Hotshots to a 108-104 lead. Jiovani Jalalon’s jumper made it 110-105 after NLEX split a pair of free throws.
Following Road Warriors misses, Sangalang secured the victory for Magnolia with another inside hoop with less than a minute remaining in the game.
Sangalang finished with 21 points and eight rebounds for the Hotshots, while Calvin Abueva had a double-double of 23 points, while Paul Lee contributed 18.
Meanwhile, San Miguel Beermen (4-2) took control of the game from start to finish to tarnish TNT Tropang GIGA’s record (6-1), 83-67. Marcio Lassiter led the Beermen’s offense with 19 points.
BOX SCORE:
GINEBRA 83 – Standhardinger 16, J. Aguilar 15, Tenorio 15, Thompson 14, Caperal 11, Pringle 10, Mariano 2, Dillinger 0, Ayaay 0, Devance 0.
RAIN OR SHINE 77 – Nambatac 18, Asistio 14, Belga 12, Torres 10, Mocon 9, Yap 5, Borboran 4, Caracut 3, Wong 2, Guinto 0, Santillan 0, Norwood 0.
QUARTERSCORES:
21-23, 35-35, 57-50, 83-77./PN
