MANILA, Philippines – In desperation mode, Barangay Ginebra relied on an old hand.

Stanley Pringle started for the Gin Kings in the PBA Governors’ Cup for the first time and erupted for 22 points on a perfect shooting display to key a 117-103 win over TNT on Friday, April 14, that gave Ginebra a 2-1 finals lead.

Gin Kings head coach Tim Cone decided to break the status quo of Pringle coming off the bench with hopes of reinvigorating their offense after Ginebra shot 7-of-29 from deep – a lowly 24% – in its 95-82 loss last game.

That change paid dividends as Pringle made all of his seven field goals – six coming from beyond the arc – to lead the Gin Kings’ red-hot shooting that resulted in a franchise record 18 three-pointers.

“We’ve kind of gotten desperate and started him and he responded incredibly well,” said Cone.

Cone, though, admitted that he thought about pulling out Pringle during key stretches as he wanted to preserve the former Best Player of the Conference for the rest of the best-of-seven series.

In 18 games so far this conference, Pringle saw action beyond 20 minutes just nine times, including his 29-minute appearance in Game 3, after enduring knee injuries over the past couple of years.

Pringle also started only 12 times in 55 games this season.

“It was about 30 times in the game where I said to myself, do I need to take Stanley out?” said Cone.

“He comes off the bench for a purpose not because we have a better player than him that starts but he comes off the bench so he we can keep his minutes short.”

Pringle milked every drop of his playing time and tallied a staggering plus-minus of +31, becoming the first player in PBA finals history to make at least six three-pointers without a miss.

His sizzling shooting will be needed once again when Ginebra guns for a commanding 3-1 lead in Game 4 on Sunday, April 16, at the Araneta Coliseum.

“We’re going to get him back to rehab and try to get him ready for Sunday,” Cone said. – Rappler.com