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By ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Tuesday, January 31, 2017
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MANILA – The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings recovered from a slow start to score a 90-80 win over the NLEX Road Warriors in the 2016-2017 Oppo PBA Philippine Cup on Sunday night at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.
LA Tenorio led the way with 30 points, nine rebounds and four assists for the Kings, which improved to a 6-5 win-loss slate tying the TNT Katropa, Phoenix Fuel Masters and GlobalPort Batang Pier.
Joe Devance and Sol Mercado had 19 and 13 points, respectively, while Earl Scottie Thompson flirted with triple-double 11 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for the Kings.
Down by as much as 17 points early in the first half, the Kings began its move late in the second period behind Tenorio, Chris Ellis and Dave Marcelo to come to within 46-42 at halftime.
Tenorio continued his hot shooting early in the third frame to surge the Kings ahead at 53-52. Conversions from Mercado, Thompson and Marcelo increased the Kings’ lead to 72-64 heading into the final quarter.
The Kings maintained its aggressiveness in the fourth as it tallied its largest lead at 87-72 on two free throws by Japeth Aguilar. The Road Warriors rallied to within 87-80 but a triple by Mercado sealed the win for the Kings.
“We looked like high school kids trying to play against pros early in the game. But LA and Scottie got us right towards the end of the first half, and that kind propelled us into halftime and gave us a lot of confidence,” said Kings head coach Tim Cone.
Enrico Villanueva and Kevin Alas led the way with 14 points apiece, while Bradwyn Guinto added 10 markers for the Road Warriors, which ended its campaign at last place with a 2-9 win-loss slate./PN
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