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| PBA (file photo) |
By Ivan Saldajeno
DUBAI--Up by 19 at halftime, Ginebra surprisingly found itself on the verge of being at the wrong end of a come-from-behind win again.
Greg Slaughter's free throws saved the day.
Slaughter hit the marginal charities with 4.1 seconds, and the Gin Kings survived a late meltdown to subdue the Alaska Aces, 93-92, in the final leg of the PBA Dubai trip at the Al Wasl Sports Club early Sunday (Philippine Time).
Ginebra saw its 56-37 halftime lead slowly being chipped away by Alaska after the intervention as the latter opened the third quarter on a 12-4 run to cut the edge to 11, 60-49.
The Gin Kings scored four unanswered points to momentarily stretch their lead to 15, but the Aces answered with a 17-8 rally of their own to draw to within six, 66-72.
Ginebra had a 15-7 run of its own to again put the lead back to 14, 87-73, early in the fourth period.
However, Alaska answered with a 15-2 blitz, and the lead was down to one, 89-88, with 3:28 remaining.
The Gin Kings got a sigh of relief as the Aces failed to score in a 2:12 span, and Slaughter drilled two free throws to stretch the lead to three, 91-88, with 1:16 left.
Vic Manuel finally gave Alaska a score when he hit a layup with 1:01 to go to cut the gap to one, 91-90.
L.A. Tenorio looked to give the Gin Kings more cushion, but he missed a triple and Manuel scored another field goal to finally give the Aces a 92-91 lead with 17 seconds remaining.
However, Nonoy Baclao gave up a foul on Slaughter with 4.1 ticks on the clock, and the latter calmly sank his free throws to put Ginebra up, 93-92.
Manuel drove hard to the lane, but he missed a layup and Jvee Casio's follow-up also failed to go in at the final buzzer.
Slaughter finished with 27 points on 15-of-17 shooting from the foul line along with 19 rebounds, and four assists, while Japeth Aguilar also tallied a double-double of 23 markers and 12 boards for the Gin Kings, who finally got their first win under Coach Tim Cone.
Calvin Abueva again impressed for the Aces, who lost for the first time after a 3-0 start, in front of another great-sized Al Wasl Sports Club crowd with 23 points, ten rebounds, two blocks, and one steal.
Box Scores:
Ginebra 93-Slaughter 27, Aguilar 23, Tenorio 14, Caguioa 11, Thompson 8, Marcelo 4, Devance 2, Brondial 2, Ellis 1, Mercado 1, Helterbrand 0, Mariano 0
Alaska 92-Abueva 23, Hontiveros 15, Manuel 14, Jazul 9, Baclao 6, Menk 6, Thoss 4, Baguio 4, Exciminiano 4, Casio 3, Dela Rosa 2, Dela Cruz 2, Magat 0
Quarterscores: 24-21, 56-37, 75-66, 93-92
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