MANILA – Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings nearly wasted a double-digit advantage before pulling off a 129-124 victory over San Miguel Beermen in the 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
After seeing its lead, which reached as high as 18 points, trimmed down to 111-113, the Kings restored order with consecutive hits from Stanley Pringle, Justin Brownlee and Japeth Aguilar to erect a 123-114 edge.
The Beermen did not easily give up with baskets from Dezmine Wells and June Mar Fajardo to come to as close as 122-125 but free throws by Tenorio and Pringle iced the win for the Kings.
Brownlee finished with triple-double 28 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists, Pringle added 27 markers, while Tenorio and Aguilar contributed 19 and 17 markers, respectively.
With the win, the Kings is now 2-2.
Holding to a slim 35-32 lead after the first 12 minutes, Ginebra created distance from SMB in the second period with baskets from Brownlee, Tenorio and Jeffrei Chan for a 71-59 halftime lead.
The Kings went on with its offense at the onset of the third period. The lead reached its largest at 18 points but the Beermen countered with a furious fourth quarter run to cut the deficit to 113-115.
Wells finished with 52 points, while Fajardo contributed double-double 16 points and 17 rebounds as the Beermen suffered its first defeat after winning their first four matches this conference.
In the first game, Jeron Teng made a triumphant return from hamstring injury as the Alaska Aces finally tasted victory with a 78-71 dumping of Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
The former De La Salle University Green Archers standout poured eight of his 18 points total in the fourth period as the Aces survived several rally attempts by the Elasto Painters.
Franko House added double-double 23 points and 22 rebounds, while Simon Enciso and Vic Manuel each had nine markers apiece for the Aces, which tied the Painters with 1-5 slate./PN
