MANILA — The Barangay Ginebra Kings went on a 17-1 run in the last six minutes for a smashing 86-76 come-from-behind win over the Meralco Bolts Sunday night in Game 2 of the PBA Governors’ Cup finals at the jampacked Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
The Kings thus erected a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series with Game 3 set Wednesday.
Justin Brownlee and LA Tenorio sparked Ginebra’s late-game explosion that wiped out Meralco’s six-point lead, 73-67, with 7: 08 left. Brownlee led the Kings with 19 points, 10 of them scored in the final quarter, on top of 13 boards, seven assists, and two steals in over 38 minutes of play. Tenorio finished with 14 points, also unloading 10 them in the fourth period, including a shot clock-beating three-pointer that gave Ginebra an 82-76 lead with just 1:07 left that took the fight out of the Bolts.
Japeth Aguilar added 16 markers and eight boards, while Joe Devance put in 10 points and six caroms. Scottie Thompson chipped in nine points, including a three-pointer and two free throws in the fourth period that started Ginebra’s huge comeback. The high-flying guard also had nine rebounds, two assists, and a block.
The win came despite an off night for Greg Slaughter who could only come up with three points and six boards ironically on the day he won the Best Player of the Conference award.
Defense won the game for Ginebra with the Kings holding the Bolts scoreless in the last 5:56 of play and forcing a couple of turnovers that spelled doom for Meralco.
The Kings also used their height advantage to the hilt, outscoring the Bolts, 48-32, on points inside the paint.
The Meralco loss spoiled another fiery performance from Allen Durham, who earlier won the Best Import award for the second straight year. The one-man wrecking ball finished with 25 points, 22 boards, seven assists, and two steals. However, the Ginebra defense limited him to just one field goal in the final canto.
Just like in Meralco’s Game 1 loss, Durham failed to get enough support from his teammates, with only two of them scoring in double digits—Baser Amer and Ranidel de Ocampo with 10 points apiece.
Meralco started strong, leading for most parts of the game before collapsing in the homestretch in the face of Ginebra’s searing comeback.
