AGUILAR SHINES AS GINEBRA SQUEAKS PAST TNT
No Mark Caguioa, no LA Tenorio in the fourth quarter, no problem for Barangay Ginebra San Miguel.
Mac Baracael provided the spark and firepower in a bristling rally from 14-point deficits and Japeth Aguilar delivered the winning plays in the end as the Kings outfought the Talk n Text Tropang Texters, 97-95, in a gripping duel before a crowd of over 13,000 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Sunday night.
Aguilar pumped in a trey then foiled a shot by Ranidel de Ocampo in the dying seconds as the Kings squeaked past the Texters and grabbed second place in the PLDT myDSL PBA Philippine Cup.
“Pick and roll dapat yon. We wanted to go hard to the basket dahil penalty sila. Tinira ni Japeth sa labas, swerte naman at pumasok,” said coach Ato Agustin on Aguilar’s go-ahead three-pointer.
Prior to the season, Aguilar was 5-of-24 (20.8 percent) from beyond the arc. And before that fateful shot, he was 1-of-2 in the game.
The 6-foot-10 slam-dunker swished it through the net, though, and himself preserved it by swatting away De Ocampo’s make-or-break jumper right in front of the TnT bench.
Baracael and Emman Monfort set up Aguilar for that moment as they led Ginebra’s fierce fightback from 12 points down, 70-82, early in the fourth.
The three-time defending champions Tropang Texters earlier led by as many as 14 at 70-56 and 72-58.
“Noong una pinakiramdaman lang namin si Mark Caguioa at LA dahil parehong galing sa sakit. Maganda yung bunot ko kay Baracael at Monfort sa fourth quarter,” said Agustin.
Fielded in only in the fourth quarter, Baracael responded to the challenge, going 3-of-3 from the three-point zone, 1-of-2 from the two-point area and 1-2 from the stripe.
“Si Monfort pinahirapan yung Talk n Text guards. He put tremendous pressure especially on Jason Castro,” said Agustin.
The game was on the line when Aguilar took charge at the finish, personally handing the Kings a fourth win in five starts and the Tropang Texters a second loss against three wins.
Aguilar finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high tying seven blocks.
Chris Ellis added 17 points while Greg Slaughter chipped in 16 markers and nine boards.
Castro and Larry Fonacier fuelled Talk n Text’s third-quarter breakaway and they wound up with 27 and 23 points, respectively.
Castro had made 17 as the Texters took the half at 43-40.
The Texters pounced on a series of lapses by Ginebra as they pulled away at 70-56 with 4:39 left in the third.
The Kings, however, came back to life in the fourth quarter, surging ahead at 92-88 to wild cheers by the dominant Ginebra crowd. (SB)
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