Barangay Ginebra San Miguel withstood the Meralco Bolts, 90-89, in a wild finish to their Oppo PBA Commissioner’s Cup clash on Sunday night at Ynares Center in Antipolo.
The Gin Kings improved to 8-2 to occupy the No.1 spot with Star and solidify their chances for a top-two finish and a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.
Justin Brownlee and LA Tenorio scored 22 points apiece for the Gin Kings who prevailed in a game that went down to the wire.
Back-to-back baskets by Japeth Aguilar and Joe Devance handed Ginebra an 88-86 lead with 41 ticks left.
After Jared Dillinger missed a triple, Tenorio nailed two free throws to push Ginebra’s cushion, 90-86. But Cliff Hodge fired a quick trey on the other end to keep Meralco alive with seven seconds left.
The Bolts caught a huge break after Brownlee missed two charities. But with no timeouts left, Meralco was forced to keep the ball in play.
Chris Newsome then threw a pass to the streaking Hodge who was open for a fastbreak layup. But the hardworking forward was unable to catch the ball, resulting to a turnover that doomed the Bolts who overcame Ginebra’s 9-0 start and even remained on top in the tightly contested match.
Baser Amer had a conference-high of 21 points to go along with eight boards and four assists, while import Alex Stepheson poured in 18 points and 20 boards for the Bolts who settled for a 7-4 card and kissed their twice-to-beat hopes goodbye.
