ANTIPOLO: Barangay Ginebra didn’t need to come up with its trademark rally this time around, just the composure to hold on after almost blowing a 20-point lead.
With a shot at No. 1 ranking in the quarterfinals the prize, the Gin Kings held off Phoenix Petroleum on Wednesday night, scoring a 96-87 decision of the Fuel Masters in the PBA Governors’ Cup eliminations at the Ynares Center here.
Justin Brownlee scored 28 points and had nine rebounds, and four locals drilled in twin digits with rookie Scottie Thompson grabbing 16 boards as the Gin Kings won for the fourth straight game to improve to 8-2 and forge a you-or-me duel for top seeding with TNT KaTropa on Sunday.
The Gin Kings erected a 59-40 halftime lead and padded it to 20 a couple of minutes into the third before spending the rest of the second half thwarting the doggedly determined Fuel Masters.
Phoenix came to within five several times in the fourth but couldn’t creep any closer, lapsing into several bad shot selections and a couple of turnovers which sealed the Fuel Masters’ doom.
The loss had Phoenix closing out the elimination round with a 5-6 card, its chances of advancing to the quarterfinals now on the bubble as the Fuel Masters could be involved in a three-way tie for the last two slots that would have them going through a KO match to march on.
As things stand, Rain or Shine slugs it out with ousted Star on Friday and in the event of a win by the Elasto Painters, they will forge that three-way logjam with the Fuel Masters and the loser of the Alaska-NLEX game which will also be held on that day.
Should that happen, the team with the best quotient after the tiebreak will automatically become the No. 7 seed, while the last two will play one game to determine the last quarterfinalist.
The winner of the Alaska-NLEX game, meanwhile, will be involved in a three-way tie for No. 4, which would mean the last twice-to-beat privilege in the first round of the playoffs.
Meralco is awaiting a foe for the playoff for No. 4, with Mahindra already there awaiting the result of the Alaska-NLEX game. The Bolts, having beaten all of those three teams in the eliminations, will be the first team in that KO match and will be playing the team that would have the better quotient between the Enforcers and the victor of the Aces-Road Warriors match.
“Phoenix just fought us tooth and nail out there tonight,” Ginebra coach Tim Cone said. “They just kept coming at us.”
Ginebra pounded Phoenix import Eugene Phelps all night long, allowing him just 24 points on 32% field goal shooting as Cone devised a consistent double on him without letup.
Even with the 7-foot Greg Slaughter out for the rest of the season because of a right ACL tear, the controlled the battle off the boards with Thompson leading the way with those 16 boards, which was equal to the night-high that Phelps also grabbed for the Fuel Masters.
Japeth Aguilar scored 12 points and had four blocks and LA Tenorio flashed deadly form in shooting 15 and handing out five assists that went with two steals.
Meanwhile, GlobalPort exited the tournament with a win, shooting down Blackwater, 139-126 earlier in the night, in a game that was practically a round robin between two also-ran sides.
Ginebra holds off Phoenix for crucial victory
Ginebra holds off Phoenix for crucial victory
