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By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior reporter
The Barangay Geneva San Miguel Kings will attempt to put the finishing touches on their assault on the PBA Philippine Cup title in game five of their best-of-seven final series with the TNT Tropang Giga on Wednesday at the Angeles University Foundation Sports Arena. in Pampanga.
Currently with a dominant 3-1 lead in the series, Barangay Geneva goes for the jugular in the game scheduled for 6 p.m. that would place him atop the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) summit of the Philippine tournament again. after more than a decade.
The Kings launched themselves to the pinnacle of winning the title after their consistent performance in Game Four on Sunday, where they came out with a 98-88 victory over Tropang Giga.
Drawing on their depth and collective experience in the big games, Barangay Geneva had berm control of the previous game, even if TNT made a strong late push to claim victory.
LA Tenorio led the Kings’ full attack, finishing with 22 points, including two clutch triples late in the contest that thwarted Tropang Giga’s attempts to complete a comeback charge. He also had six rebounds and three steals.
Athletic big man Japeth Aguilar also scored 22 points for the Kings as he peppered him with nine rebounds and two blocks.
Stanley Pringle finished with 16 points, while Scottie Thompson had a nearly triple-double of 11 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.
“I felt like we played our best game in the entire bubble tonight. We made great shots all night and made defensive plays. I hope we can transfer it to Wednesday, ”said Barangay Geneva coach Tim Cone of his victory in game four.
For Tenorio, who is looking to win his first Philippine Cup title, his work is not done yet and despite having a commanding lead in the series, they cannot let their guard down.
“Closing a series is the most difficult. I’ve been in these situations in my career and I know that teams are still capable of bouncing back from such a deficit, especially with a kind of team like TNT. They will adapt and it will be difficult. But if we do it our way, we don’t want to give them another chance because it will be more difficult for us if they come back to this series, ”said the veteran Kings general.
The last time Barangay Geneva won the Philippine Cup title was in the 2006-07 season, when he was still being coached by Jong Uichico.
The Kings defeated the San Miguel Brewers, 4-2, in their best-of-seven finals series. Jayjay Helterbrand, now retired, was the MVP of the final.
Veteran Barangay Geneva player Mark Caguioa is the only remaining player from that championship team who remains a part of the Kings this year.
Meanwhile, despite acknowledging that it will be an uphill battle for them from now on, the Tropang Giga are still not giving up.
They have been competing throughout the series, despite the absence of key gear Ray Parks Jr. due to a calf injury in their last three games.
Compounding his problems, veteran Jayson Castro was unable to finish his final game after worsening a knee injury. His status for Game Five is still uncertain as of this writing.
Roger Pogoy, who is averaging 27.2 points in the series, is in a big time for TNT, including an explosive 34-point outing in the last game.
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