The country’s most popular PBA team, Ginebra San Miguel enters the Quarterfinals of the PBA Philippine Cup by defeating the Purefoods Star Hotshots in an overtime playoff duel ending the Hotshots campaign with a 92-89 win. The playoff match-up between Ginebra and Star is now considered as the most thrilling All-Filipino Cup duel.
Veteran point guard LA Tenorio nailed a buzzer-beating triple in overtime that lifted Ginebra against their perennial rival in the Manila Clasico game against Purefoods.
Ginebra managed an upset against the Star despite tailing an 18-point hole when Sol Mercado began hitting the rim in the fourth and overtime period after a dismal first three quarters performance.
The victory of Brgy. Ginebra brought the team to the quarterfinals match-up against Batang Pier and eliminated the Hotshots from the competition with their twice-to-beat advantage during the playoffs.
During the overtime period, PBA statistician Fidel Mangonon revealed that it was the first overtime game without a single two-point field goal as both the Ginebra and the Star scored all their points in the three-point area.
Box scores:
Ginebra 92 – Mercado 17, Slaughter 12, Tenorio 11, Caguioa 10, Devance 10, Aguilar 9, Ellis 9, Thompson 9, Helterbrand 3, Cruz 2, Marcelo 0.
Star 89 – Simon 17, Sangalang 13, Barroca 11, Yap 10, Maliksi 9, Mallari 9, Melton 7, Reavis 4, Taha 4, Cruz 3, Pingris 2, Pascual J. 0, Torres 0.
Quarterscores: 21-18, 38-37, 54-62, 80-80, 92-89