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Ginebra's Japeth Aguilar gets blocked by Alaska's Calvin Abueva in the PBA Governors' Cup quarterfinals match at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum Friday night.[/caption]By Jay R. Gotera
MANILA – LA Tenorio exploded for a playoff career-high of 32 points on top of six assists and four rebounds to lead the Barangay Ginebra Kings to a resounding 109-104 victory in the quarterfinals of the PBA Governors’ Cup Friday night.
Import Justin Brownlee also played a huge role in the Ginebra win, banging in 29 points, including a dagger three-pointer with seconds left that put an end to Alaska’s furious endgame rally. Brownlee also had 11 rebounds.
With the win, the Kings set up a best-of-5 semifinals series against the defending champion San Miguel Beermen. Ginebra will be making its first Final Four appearance in three years.
Down by 26 points in the third quarter, the Aces suddenly caught fire in the final quarter. A 13-1 Alaska run cut Ginebra’s lead to a single point, 105-104, with still 31 seconds left.
But Brownlee crushed Alaska’s hope with a booming triple off the glass to restore Ginebra’s lead to four, 108-104, with 9.6 seconds to play.
San Miguel Beer 114, NLEX 110
San Miguel Beer turned back the hard-fighting NLEX Road Warriors, 114-110, to advance to the semifinals.
The Beermen squandered a 17-point lead before sending the Road Warriors crashing out of the conference.
Import Elijah Millsap paced SMB with 39 points and 11 boards, while June Mar Fajardo, Alex Cabagnot, and Marcio Lassiter also delivered key baskets in the endgame.
Fajardo finished with 17 points, 13 boards, and five assists, while Cabagnot and Lassiter added 14 markers apiece.
The result spoiled the superlative game of NLEX import Bill Walker who appeared unstoppable, dishing out 45 points and 17 boards with less than a minute of rest.
Mighty Sports sweeps Group B in Merlion Cup
The Philippine-Mighty Sports team demolished the Westports Malaysia Dragons, 105-75, to sweep Group B of the 2016 Merlion Cup Friday at the OCBC Arena in Singapore.
Fil-Canadian sharpshooter Matthew Wright led the way with 20 points while GlobalPort Batang Pier guard Joseph Yeo and import Dewarick Spencer each added 16 to pace Mighty Sports.
Al Thornton added 14 points while naturalized Filipino Marcus Douthit chipped in with eight points.
Perlas Pilipinas wins 4th straight in SEABA tilt
The Perlas Pilipinas national women’s basketball team nailed their fourth straight win, thrashing Indonesia, 72-56, in the 2016 SEABA Women’s Championship in Malacca, Malaysia.
Allana Lim starred with game-highs of 24 points and nine rebounds.
It was the toughest win yet for the Filipina dribblers who won their two previous games by 147 and 78 points, respectively.
Games Saturday (quarters): Meralco Bolts (twice-to-beat advantage) vs. Mahindra Enforcer and TNT KaTropa (twice-to-beat advantage) vs. Phoenix Fuel Masters.
