MANILA, Philippines – Barangay Ginebra returned to the winning track in the most dramatic fashion after hacking out a 100-97 win over Phoenix in the 2019 PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, March 10.

The Gin Kings had a lot of things going their way late in the game as they hiked their record to 4-3 and handed the league-leading Fuel Masters just their second loss in 10 outings. 

LA Tenorio led Ginebra’s fightback by hitting timely triples in the payoff period before Aljon Mariano and Japeth Aguilar rose to the occasion in the dying seconds to secure the win. 

Tenorio, who tied Alvin Patrimonio for most consecutive games played of 596, finished with a game-high 23 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals and buried two straight triples that gave the Gin Kings a 94-93 lead.

Both teams traded buckets in the final 3 minutes until Ginebra held a 98-97 lead off two Jervy Cruz free throws with 53 seconds left. 

Calvin Abueva had a chance to retake the upper hand for Phoenix but saw his floater swatted away by Aguilar as Mariano, who secured the defensive rebound, made it a three-point Gin Kings lead by sinking his freebies with 4.3 ticks left. 

Matthew Wright almost forced overtime for the Fuel Masters with a Hail Mary shot from near halfcourt only to witness it rim out. 

Mariano delivered 20 points – with 12 coming in the 4th period – to go with 9 rebounds while Aguilar chipped in 11 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks in the win. 

Greg Slaughter chalked up 18 points and 11 rebounds and Jeff Chan added 13 points for Ginebra.

Six players breached twin digits for Phoenix led by Abueva, who put up 15 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists. 

RJ Jazul and Justin Chua both had 13 points while Wright submitted 10 points and 10 assists in the losing effort. – Rappler.com