BURIED at the end of the bench, Ginebra battle-scarred playmaker LA Tenorio threw his towel in frustration after rookie RJ Abarrientos committed a turnover against San Miguel Beer late last night.
A few plays later, the pro league’s “Iron Man” simply would not have none of it, booming in a three-pointer that turned out to be the game-winning triple that saved his team’s season.
The Kings charged back from a 16-point hole and outlasted the Beermen 88-87 in Game 6 of their best-of-7 semifinals showdown in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Tenorio, 40, raised his right hand and pumped his chest three times after draining the backbreaking trey with 3.1 seconds to go that sent the pro-Ginebra crowd into euphoria.
The Kings forced SMB star CJ Perez to miss a last-gasp four-point attempt at the buzzer as the charges of coach Tim Cone knotted the race-to-4 series at 3-3 with Game 7 set for Wednesday also at the Big Dome.
“Miracles do happen,” Cone uttered, his first words after their dramatic triumph. “We turned to our veteran, our leader, and he made the big play down the stretch. That’s something we haven’t been able to do in the series but LA’s presence out there just allowed us to take the big plays. But obviously there’s more a lot than just big shot before that. He kept us in the game.
“The crowd never gave up on us. We were down and we made a little bit of a run and the crowd went crazy. The crowd would not make us quit. Just showed a lot of fight led by our team captain. What more can I say? Again, miracles do happen,” he added.
Former MVP Scottie Thompson notched 17 points, 16 rebounds, and eight assists for Ginebra while Japeth Aguilar chimed in 16 markers and four boards.
The trio of Stephen Holt, Troy Rosario, and Abarrientos had 12 each while Tenorio finished with 11 points on three trifectas as the Kings atoned for a 92-103 loss in the fifth match last Friday.
The Beermen zoomed to a 42-26 spread on a Don Trollano layup at the 6:56 mark of the second quarter before Ginebra sliced it to 45-54 at the break.
The Kings tilted the momentum on their side after making it a 67-70 game heading into the final stanza.
A split from the free throw line by reigning eight-time MVP June Mar Fajardo gave SMB its last taste of the lead, 87-85, only 10 ticks remaining.
Fajardo carried the fight for the Beermen with 21 points and 16 caroms while Perez added 15 and six.
Trollano and Rodney Brondial also combined for 25 for SMB.
Ginebra will show up in a game of no tomorrow armed with all the needed confidence and its legion of true-blue supporters.
