MANILA, Philippines -- Stanley Pringle towed the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel to a pivotal Game 1 victory over the Meralco Bolts, 92-88, in the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Pringle uncorked a season-high 22 points, while hauling down six rebounds and two assists.
Aside from the huge numbers, Pringle also hit a crucial floater with 39 seconds remaining to secure the victory.
After a triple by Allein Maliksi cut a double-digit deficit to four, 79-83, the Gin Kings unleashed six straight points off a 3-pointer by Ralph Cu and an and-one play by Christian Standhardinger off a bounce pass by Pringle to go up by 10, 89-79, with 1:39 to go.
Chris Newsome then tried to tow the Bolts back to the ballgame with an and-one play of his own and a steal that led to a layup by Chris Banchero to slice the lead in half.
A split from the line by Mav Ahanmisi gave Ginebra a six-point lead, 90-84, but a pair of freebies by Newsome inched the Bolts to just four, 86-90.
Pringle then caught the ball and drove to the basket, hoisting up a floater over the outstretched arms of Cliff Hodge for the dagger.
On the other end, Maliksi missed a trey to close the door on any comeback attempt.
The Gin Kings led by 12 going into the fourth quarter with a late triple by Scottie Thompson, which they maintained through the middle of the final canto.
Slowly though the Bolts stormed back, but timely plays by Pringle saved the day.
“[Pringle]’s our sixth man, he’s coming off the bench but we can start him at any moment. He’s the kind of guy that can take over a game, at any given moment. Tonight, he took over the game, especially in the third and fourth quarter,” Ginebra head coach Tim Cone said.
Cu added 18 points off six 3-pointers. Japeth Aguilar chipped in 17 markers and eight boards for the winners.
Newsome led the charge for Meralco with an all-around performance of 21 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and a steal. Banchero backstopped with 15 points.
The Bolts will try to bounce back on Sunday at the same venue.