MANILA – Lewis Alfred Tenorio came up with clutch hits as Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings pulled a 98-88 win over TNT Tropang Giga in Game 4 of their 2020 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup finals at the AUF Sports Arena and Cultural Center in Pampanga last night.
After seeing their once 18-point lead trim to 85-88 on a barrage of triples by Tropang Giga’s Roger Pogoy, Tenorio hoisted back-to-back triples as the Kings increased their lead to 94-88.
Following a missed three-pointer by Pogoy, Barangay Ginebra widened the lead further on a fast break layup by Earl Scottie Thompson before Tenorio sealed the win with a two-pointer.
Tenorio finished the match with 22 points, including four outside conversions, to go along with six assists and three steals while Japeth Aguilar added 22 markers and nine boards for the Kings.
Stanley Pringle contributed 16 points, Thompson fell short of a triple-double with 11 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists as the Kings cruised to a 3-1 edge in the best-of-seven championship series.
Both the Kings and Tropang Giga traded advantage in the slow first quarter with both teams knotted at 14-apiece before Negrense Jeffrei Chan broke the tie for Barangay Ginebra with a three-pointer.
Baskets from Jared Dillinger, Thompson and Aguilar allowed the Kings to stay afloat in the second period at 30-26 before managing to pull away to 49-39 at the half on conversions from Prince Caperal, Pringle and Tenorio.
Barangay Ginebra went on to increase the advantage to 56-39 to start the third quarter with five straight points from Tenorio. TNT battled to within 12 but consecutive hits by Aguilar and a triple by Chan gave the Kings a 76-60 advantage.
The Tropang Giga clawed to within 64-77 at the onset of the fourth quarter, but the Kings answered with a two-pointer from Negrense Joe Davence and a triple by Pringle for their largest lead, 82-64.
TNT did not give up as consecutive points by Pogoy and hits from Jeth Troy Rosario and John Paul Erram allowed them to cut the deficit to 77-83. Free throws by Aguilar and Dillinger gave Ginebra an 88-79 lead, but triples by Pogoy pulled TNT to within 85-88.
Pogoy finished the match with 34 points, Erram chipped in double-double 19 points and 16 rebounds while Rosario and Simon Enciso contributed 16 and 10 markers respectively for the Tropang Giga.
BOX SCORE:
GINEBRA 98 – J. Aguilar 22, Tenorio 22, Pringle 16, Thompson 11, Devance 8, Dillinger 7, Caperal 6, Chan 6, Mariano 0.
TNT 88 – Pogoy 34, Erram 19, Rosario 16, Enciso 10, Reyes 3, Castro 2, Semerad 2, Vosotros 2, Montalbo 0, Washington 0, De Leon 0.
QUARTERSCORES:
Q1, 17-14; Q2, 49-39; Q3, 76-60; Q4, 98-88./PN
