IT'S on for the "Manila Clasico" duel between Magnolia and Barangay Ginebra in the PBA Commissioner's Cup semifinals.
Taking the cue from the No. 2 Hotshots' quarterfinal disposal of No. 7 Phoenix Friday, the third-ranked Gin Kings finished off No. 6 Northport with a 99-93 clincher in Saturday's Game 2 at the PhilSports Arena.
The result completed a 2-0 sweep of the best-of-three series for the crowd darlings, who earlier took the head start with a 118-102 triumph last Wednesday.
The sister teams renew their celebrated rivalry in a race-to-three dispute for a finals berth beginning next week.
"We have a few days to kinda get over this (quarterfinal matchup with NorthPort) and move on to the next," said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.
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"But I'm concerned because we didn't play that well tonight. We play like that against Magnolia and it's not gonna be much of a Clasico. We gotta pick it up," he added.
Cone's concern stemmed from Ginebra's woeful start in Game 2, where NorthPort raced to a 29-11 lead in the first.
It took a 30-18 exchange in the second canto to put the Gin Kings within striking distance, 47-43. Another big quarter after restart, 29-19, allowed Cone's troops to wrest control, 72-66.
The Gin Kings went on to seize a 97-85 cushion with 2:46 left in the fourth but saw this quickly sliced to 97-93 after an 8-0 salvo ignited by Kevin Ferrer and Arvin Tolentino.
LA Tenorio, who tied James Yap in fourth spot in the all-time list with 1,178 career triples with his fourth trey of this match, iced the outcome with two charities in the last 20.5 seconds.
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"Nag-letdown kami nung huli and credit also to NorthPort; there's no quit sa team na yun," said Scottie Thompson, the Best Player of the Game who flirted with a triple-double performance 15 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. "We have to learn from this going to the semis," he added.
Justin Brownlee fired 20 plus nine rebounds to lead Ginebra. Jamie Malonzo (14), Tenorio (14) and Christian Standhardinger (13) also contributed offensively.
Former Ginebra players Chan (20), Tolentino (18) and Ferrer (18) paced NorthPort. Robert Bolick shot 13 and William Navarro rifled in 10 before limping out with an ankle injury late in the first canto. (OL)
The Scores:
Ginebra 99 - Brownlee 20, Thompson 15, Tenorio 14, Malonzo 14, Standhardinger 13, Pringle 10, Gray 9, J.Aguilar 4, Mariano 0.
NorthPort 93 - Chan 20, Tolentino 18, Ferrer 18, Bolick 13, Navarro 10, Ibeh 7, Sumang 5, Balanza 2, Taha 0, Calma 0, Caperal 0.
Quarters: 13-29, 43-47, 72-66, 99-93.
