HATFIELD DEFENSIVE GEM GIVES GINEBRA NEW LEASE ON LIFE
Barangay Ginebra fought with grit and guts with its dear life on the line, living on to force a rubber match with Rain or Shine in their PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals showdown at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Friday night.
Veteran Rudy Hatfield and rookies Chris Ellis and Yousef Taha delivered big hustle plays at the finish as the Kings overcame early double-digit deficits and got back at the Elasto Painters, 79-77, to the delight of their cheering throngs at the Big Dome.
The trio combined for 12 rebounds and 10 points in the payoff period preserving the efforts put in by LA Tenorio and Mark Caguioa earlier to shove the Kings ahead, 70-62.
Hatfield asserted his presence in the crunch and clinched the thrilling victory by intercepting Gabe Norwood’s throw-in intended for Jervy Cruz with 2.4 ticks left.
The Ginebra bench and the gallery whooped it up as the Kings escaped with the win forcing the sudden-death match at 5 p.m. Sunday in the same venue.
The winner advances to the semifinals versus San Mig Coffee.
“The key thing was the personification of Rudy Hatfield – heart. He was there diving for the loose ball and hustling for everything,” said Ginebra coach Siot Tanquingcen.
“Doon mo makikita kung anong klaseng player si Rudy. Nandyan siya pag gitgitan na ang laro,” Tanquingcen added.
The youthful Ginebra mentor, however, was not about to celebrate.
“We are far from having done anything. Naibalik lang namin zero-zero ang laban. I don’t expect it getting easier. Rain or Shine is a very tough team, resilient. It’s gonna be an interesting game Sunday,” he said.
Down by seven, 72-79, with 1:48 left, the Elasto Painters still nearly stole the game but Jeff Chan’s three-pointer in the closing seconds rimmed out.
The Kings went scoreless in the last 1:48 but also made the needed stops in the dying seconds as they went on to avenge their blowout 65-82 defeat Wednesday.
Cruz nailed two charities then Paul Lee banged away a booming trey as Rain or Shine threatened at 77-79.
The Elasto Painters took control in the first half but the Kings got into the game in the third quarter, riding high the exploits of Tenorio.
The 5-foot-8 playmaker tossed in seven straight points as the Kings drew level at 44-all. A basket by Caguioa coming off the bench had Ginebra surging ahead a few moments later.
Ellis came through with a double-double game with 18 points and 10 rebounds while Caguiao and Tenorio added 17 and 16 points, respectively. (SB)
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