Ginebra coach Tim Cone lauds Tony Bishop for willing Meralco back in Finals Game 5

Tony Bishop exploded in the fourth quarter for Meralco, but his efforts fell short eventually. PBA Images

By Ivan Saldajeno

QUEZON CITY—Ginebra did not have an easy time taking Game 5 of the PBA Governors' Cup Finals on Sunday night.

While the team was on track for a blowout win after firing a franchise-record-tying 16 triples, Meralco still got a shot at stealing the game in front of 18,251 people at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Tony Bishop, who struggled in the first half, exploded midway through the fourth quarter, scoring the first 13 points of a 15-2 Bolts run that cut the Gin Kings' lead from 14 points with around eight minutes left to just one, 98-97, with 4:26 to play.

Although Ginebra eventually escaped with a 115-110 victory, Coach Tim Cone could not help but commend Bishop for his efforts.

"Man! Bishop willed them back into the game in the second half. He did everything he could. He was knocking down threes and get out in the transition. He was phenomenal in the second half," Cone said of Bishop, who finished with 30 points, 26 in the second half including 18 in the final frame.

Prior to that, Bishop was held to just four points, all in the second quarter, early on.

Good thing for Cone, his players responded well after he called a timeout to remind them about endgame poise.

"We talked about keeping our poise during the timeout, so we did hang a little bit," Cone further said.

The timeout resulted in back-to-back jumpers from Christian Standhardinger and a booming triple from Scottie Thompson—moments after he grabbed a rebound against Bishop—which eventually became the daggers.

"I'm fortunate. I got a team that understands this. They've been to the wars. I'm just really fortunate that I have gathered a team that's been stacked for a while," Cone added.

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