Tenorio lifts Ginebra past Rain or Shine 98-94

There’s someone winning games for Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the clutch these days, and he’s not Mark Caguioa.
New acquisition LA Tenorio again rose to the challenge in the stretch, shooting five straight points that keyed a 98-94 victory over Rain or Shine last night that kept the Gin Kings undefeated in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
The 5-foot-8 guard finished with 20 points, including a fallaway jumper inside the paint over Rain or Shine’s big men that put the Kings ahead to stay, 95-94, going into the final 37.9 seconds.
Tenorio, who was the subject of a blockbuster trade in the off-season coming from Alaska, was also instrumental in the endgame against Globalport in the inaugurals as the Kings assumed leadership in the young tournament at 2-0.
The loss was the first in two games for Rain or Shine, the reigning Governors’ Cup champion which got a bad break with 16.4 seconds remaining when Gabe Norwood was called for a questionable foul on Tenorio in a rebound play.
And that sent Tenorio to the stripe for two charities that polished off the Painters, 97-94, as Jeff Chan missed a triple try horribly in the next Rain or Shine offensive.
“We were blessed by God to come out with a win,” Ginebra coach Siot Tanquingcen said. “We didn’t play well at all. It’s good that somehow we were able to squeeze out a win.”
Rico Maierhofer scattered 12 points like Kerby Raymundo even as Chan led the Painters with 25, 12 of them coming in the fourth quarter.
That fourth quarter explosion by Chan was marked by a stretch where the left-hander scored 10 straight points, before Larry Rodriguez forged an 86-all deadlock with just over five minutes left. Chan shoved the Painters to an 88-86 lead by making two of three free throws and Rain or Shine was in the lead for the last time at 94-93 when Norwood grabbed an offensive rebound over Caguioa and put it back in one motion going into the last 51.6.
Caguioa led the Kings with 22 points capped by a split from the stripe with 6.4 seconds left for what turned out to be the final score.
Ronnie Matias scored 14 points and had eight rebounds, while Norwood contributed 11 and seven for the Painters, who were still without last season’s top rookie Paul Lee, and No. 7 pick Chris Tiu, who is out with a hamstring pull.
Meanwhile, Air21 notched its first win earlier in the night by holding off newcomer Globalport, 88-81.
John Wilson came off the bench to shoot 17 and Nino Canaleta and Wynne Arboleda scored a combined 14 points in the fourth period to key the Express’ first win in two games.
The Batang Pier took a second straight loss despite getting 22 points from Willie Miller and 17 from Gary David, last season’s scoring champion who continued to struggle from the three-point line with a 1-of-8 clip.
Mark Isip shot 12 points like Canaleta for the Express, a team that retained just two of its players last year.