Japeth Aguilar hit the shot that made what Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone said a “fun game” complete.
The 6-foot-9 Aguilar drained a left corner jumper at the buzzer on Friday night and lifted the Gin Kings to a 97-96 edging of San Miguel Beer, moving within another win of dethroning the Beermen as PBA Governors’ Cup champions before a virtual sea of humanity at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
“That was fun. It was a hard game, well-fought,” Cone said after the cheers died down and the Gin Kings had taken a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five Final Four series. “I think both teams played to the highest of their abilities, we just stayed in the game with our character.”
Aguilar came up with the heroics that put Ginebra on top, a third attempt in the final possession of the Gin Kings who have been very successful in neutralizing the advantage in size and manpower of the Beermen.
It was a crazy game to say the least, one that was appreciated by a crowd of close to 15,000.
“I’m just smiling about it now,” Cone, coaching Ginebra in a series for the first time, went on. “Because it (game) was really something. I would be crushed it I was on the other side.”
Aguilar just stood out in the end because he made the game-winning shot, but Ginebra had a lot of heroes, starting from import Justin Brownlee who was solid on both ends, and point guards LA Tenorio and Scottie Thompson.
Thompson, selected fifth overall by the Kings in the last Draft, became the first rookie in 23 years since Johnny Abarrientos of Alaska to complete a triple double after firing 12 points, snaring down 11 rebounds and issuing 10 assists.
Tenorio, meanwhile, fell just a feed short of completing one of his own after shooting 20 that went with 10 boards.
“A lot of things happened making for that last shot,” Cone said.
Game 4 is slated Sunday and Cone refuses to look at it like he has the upperhand in the series, that they have two chances to win one game and close it out.
“Thinking like that would make us complacent,” Cone said.
Elijah Millsap had 24 points and 12 rebounds, Marcio Lassiter and Arwind Santos chipped in 15 each and hot MVP candidate June Mar Fajardo had 12 boards and 11 points, playing less than 30 minutes because of foul trouble.
Meanwhile, TNT KaTropa and Meralco break their 1-1 tie in the other half of the semifinals on Saturday afternoon, with the Bolts looking at the possibility of playing without the veteran Jared Dillinger.
Dillinger suffered what looked like a pulled right hamstring and Meralco team officials have kept mum on the extent of the injury by refusing to return calls and answering text messages from Arab News.
Should Dillinger not be fit to play, that would make the Texters the odds-on picks to triumph in the 5 p.m. contest even if the Bolts will be coming into the game fresh from a 105-91 Game 2 win just two nights ago.
Jason Castro did not play in the fourth quarter of that loss, making him fresh for the tiebreaker as TNT, the elimination round top notcher with a 10-1 card, tries to avoid losing back-to-back games for the first time in the conference.
The Meralco win on Thursday night displayed the Bolts at their finest, with Allen Durham getting the space he needed to operate inside with Jimmy Alapag leading the team with some solid sniping after going 4-for-4 from three-point range.
But without Dillinger, the Bolts will suffer on both ends of the floor, with the 6-foot-4 swingman also capable of playing solid defense on anyone, aside from being a great offensive finisher.
In a related development, Terrence Romeo and GlobalPort also on Friday came to terms to a three-year extension worth just over P15 million not counting won-game bonuses and other perks.
Romeo, who saw action for Gilas Pilipinas in the last three international tournaments, will be paid P420, 000 a month for the next three years as Batang Pier management repaid him for his great play ever since entering the league in 2013.
Stanley Pringle, the other half of GlobalPort’s 1-2 punch with Romeo, is also close to securing a new deal, though financial details of the soon-to-be-inked pact are being kept under wraps.
Ginebra’s Aguilar beats buzzer and San Miguel in thriller
Ginebra’s Aguilar beats buzzer and San Miguel in thriller
