Kings on cusp of title with Game 5 win

BOCAUE, Bulacan — Barangay Ginebra thwarted another gutsy Meralco stand midway into the game, 85-74, to take Game Five and move one win away from repeating as PBA Governors’ Cup champions Sunday night at the Philippine Arena.

LA Tenorio came out with guns blazing, pacing the Gin Kings shortly after the opening buzzer. He accounted for nine points as Ginebra built a 21-15 lead over Meralco in the first canto.

“LA played great,” head coach Tim Cone said. “He didn’t score in Game Four; he came out scoring the first five, seven points of this game.”

“We went to war today,” he added. “It did not win us anything. But in a best-of-three series, it’s always an important thing to win the first game.”

Big men Justin Brownlee and Greg Slaughter made their presence felt in the final frame, helping fend off a Meralco rally to the delight of 36,445 fans.

The American import finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds, while the Best Player of the Conference awardee chimed in 17 points and pulled 15 boards.

Tenorio would then reprise his late-game gut punch. He sank a triple in the final three minutes of the game to widen the Kings’ lead to 13 points and extinguish whatever hope the Bolts had in mounting a comeback.

Tenorio, who is enduring a bad elbow, wrapped up the game with 17 points, six rebounds and four assists in 40 minutes of action.

“One more to go man, the job is not done. The only thing we've done is win three games, we haven't won a championship. I'm sure we're going to be fired up Wednesday and we'll be ready,” shared Brownlee.

“This is a crucial one for us so, just fortunate that we got the win," added Slaughter. "We need to get one more.”

Meralco got it going behind another beastly performance from Allen Durham, who registered 27 points and 19 rebounds. Garvo Lanete added 11 points off the bench, but he and the Best Import awardee would be the only Bolts to score in double digits.

“We’ll worry about Game Six in about an hour,” Cone offered.

Ginebra will have a chance to ride on the partisan crowd of the Bulacan venue and give the fans a treat by winning their second straight Governors’ Cup title on Wednesday night.

The Scores:

Ginebra 85 - Brownlee 20, Slaughter 17, Tenorio 17, Devance 12, Aguilar 8, Thompson 5, Caguioa 4, Ferrer 2.

Meralco 74 - Durham 27, Lanete 11, Hugnatan 8, Caram 7, Hodge 6, Dillinger 6, Newsome 5, Amer 4, Tolomia 0, Faundo 0.

Quarters: 21-15, 42-35, 66-62, 85-74.