GINEBRA displayed its never-say-die spirit anew by overcoming a 22-point deficit and beating Terrafirma 112-107 yesterday in the PBA Governors Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
Scottie Thompson notched a triple-double of 20 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists and combined with Justin Brownlee in bringing the Kings back from a lethargic start that led to as much as a 44-66 deficit.
Thompson capped his heroics with a nifty touch-pass to Christian Standhardinger for a short stab that pointed Ginebra to its second straight win as it resulted in a 110-107 lead with only 29.8 ticks left.
Brownlee then sealed a 29-point, 15-rebound, seven-assist performance with two charities that not only put him at No. 8 overall among all-time imports scoring with a 4,103-point total but also made it a safe 112-107 count.
“Scottie willed us to the win,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone of Thompson after the latter’s fifth career triple-double.
The win improved Ginebra’s record to 5-4 while dropping Terrafirma to a third straight loss and a 2-7 card overall as it virtually bowed out of the race for one of the eight quarterfinals slots.
The Dyip could have avoided such a predicament had they learned their lessons from a 97-102 loss to Alaska last Feb. 19 in a game where they led by as much as 81-61.
Juami Tiongson and Antonio Hester tried to keep Terrafirma’s head above water and initially succeeded as the latter’s undergoal basket made it a 107-104 count.
But Thompson converted a fastbreak layup off his own steal before Japeth Aguilar’s free throws gave Ginebra the lead which it would hold on to in the face of Terrafirma’s harried and hurried thrusts in the last 61 seconds of play.
Tiongson finished with 27 points with Joshua Munzon adding 23 points and Hester 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Thompson scattered 13 of his points and six of his assists in the third period with his feed to Brownlee bringing Ginebra within 76-84.
Munzon’s free throw made it a nine-point game after three quarters and baskets by Tiongson and Hester kept Terrafirma ahead 90-81, but momentum started shifting the Kings’ way when Standhardinger was fouled by Andreas Cahilig just when Brownlee was launching a three-point shot that went in.
