BARANGAY Ginebra kept its streak going in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup but not without going through the wringer against Blackwater.
Pushed to the limit by a Bossing side aching for a takedown, the Gin Kings leaned on Japeth Aguilar's go-ahead jumper off a Scottie Thompson setup to put together a 101-99 escape act Friday night at the PhilSports Arena.
With their third straight win, Coach Tim Cone's charges jacked up their record to 5-2 and strengthened their grip on No. 4 in the standings.
The Gin Kings went up by as many as 10, at 54-43, but found themselves engaged in a tight contest in the endgame after the troika of Sedrick Barefield, RK Ilagan and Jason David caught fire for the Bossing.
Troy Mallilin even joined the three-point party of Blackwater and knotted the game at 99-all with an open shot from deep with 19 seconds left.
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But the experience and brilliance of Thompson and Aguilar came to the fore as Ginebra brought its final offensive to fruition.
Thompson, whose wife was delivering their child during the match, sent the leather to Aguilar, who made good and knocked down the game winner with 1 second left, allowing the former to head over immediately to the hospital with the game not going into overtime.
"I'm very happy with the win but from a coaching standpoint, I wasn't too happy with the process that we took to get this," said Cone.
"We didn't play particularly well; we allowed them to really get a rhythm. Barefield, Ilagan, even David, we couldn't put the clamps on any of the three and that's what made it such a difficult game for us."
Barefield gunned down 32, Ilagan 24 and David 15. They combined for eight triples with Ilagan also going 2-of-2 from the four-point line.
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Aguilar finished with 22 but made the biggest shot of the game.
"It came down to a big shot and Japeth has made so many big shots in his career and here's another one. And it was a great pass by Scottie to make it happen," said Cone.
The Bossing absorbed their fourth straight loss and fell to 1-6. (OL)
The Scores :
GINEBRA 101 - J.Aguilar 22, Thompson 18, Rosario 18, Malonzo 15, Holt 13, Abarrientos 8, Adamos 4, David 3, Gray 0.
BLACKWATER 99 - Barefield 32, Ilagan 24, David 15, Mallilin 9, Escoto 8, Casio 3, Jopia 2, Guinto 2, Tratter 2, Chua 2, Andrade 0, Mitchell 0.
QUARTERS: 19-25, 46-43, 72-71, 101-99
