By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
In almost all types of situations, odd, miraculous, or disappointing, LA Tenorio has been there and done that in the PBA.
One of the most decorated and experienced guards still playing in the big league just put the whole Ginebra San Miguel Gin Kings on his back and willed his team to victory, 98-88, in Game 4 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals against the feisty TNT Tropang Giga.
What used to be a comfortable 18-point advantage for Ginebra was trimmed down to just three after an RR Pogoy scoring barrage, 88-85 in the final stretch of the fourth quarter.
After an emotional timeout called by coach Tim Cone of Ginebra, who was there to answer the call? It was “GINeral” Tenorio.
The savvy guard engaged in a duel with Pogoy and decided to carry the offensive load for Ginebra which allowed them to keep the lead and prevented the Tropang Giga from capturing the momentum heading into the final two minutes of the ball game.
With Pogoy hitting back-to-back treys to cut their deficit to just three, Tenorio surged back and drilled consecutive three-pointers of his own to stem the tide and keep Tropang Giga at an arm’s length.
“This is our best game of the series by far and I think the best game in the conference. We hit big shots all night, we made plays, we made defensive plays, held the lead for the most part, and then they made their big run,” said coach Cone.
Tenorio finished the ball game with 22 huge points while star forward Japeth Aguilar backstopped him by scoring 22 points of his own followed by nine rebounds and two blocks to keep Ginebra firmly in the driver’s seat up 3-1.
Pogoy’s crazy shooting night wasn’t enough to earn the Tropang Giga a win. To make matterse worse, superstar Jayson Castro exited the game with an injury, joining Ray Parks Jr. in the doubtful list heading into Game 5.
