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STANLEY Pringle once again led from the front when Barangay Geneva beat TNT, 85-79, on Friday night in the PBA Philippines Cup Leadership Battle at the Angeles University Foundation Sports and Cultural Center.
Pringle ran rings around his TNT defenders, finishing with 28 points and 12 rebounds as Geneva regained the solo lead in eliminations with a 7-2 (win-loss) record following his third straight win.
Geneva also came close to clinching the top seed after formally clinching the quarterfinal spot by virtue of their win over TNT, which fell to 6-3 after their second loss in a row.
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Japeth Aguilar completed a double-double when he finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds, while teammate LA Tenorio also played his best game this season with 15 points and nine assists.
But it was Pringle who made the best shots. Fil-Am’s shooting guard made two free throws after Tropang Giga came close to two, 72-70 and then hit hard baskets that took Geneva’s lead to 80-72 with 1:53 to play.
Geneva coach Tim Cone said TNT played below par, signaling 29 percent of Tropang Giga’s field goals. TNT also made just five of its 41 three-point shots with RR Pogoy and Troy Rosario missing all five of their attempts.
“I think they just had a bad night shooting. They didn’t have many legs because they played yesterday, ”Cone said. “Three-point shots have a lot to do with fresh legs and I don’t think they had fresh legs tonight.”
The Gin Kings started the game with a 12-2 run and opened a 27-13 lead in the second quarter, the biggest of the game. TNT fought back bravely behind Jayson Castro to cut Geneva’s lead to two before Pringle took over.
“We said at halftime that we were lucky because we had the advantage because they missed all their three-point shots in that first half and they were wide open,” Cone said.
“Even down the stretch, Jayson Castro got an open three and missed it. As much as I want to give our defense credit, I don’t think you’ll see that twice in a row with Talk ‘N Text. They’re too good of a shooting team.” Cone added.
Castro scored 19 points while Poy Erram had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Bobby Ray Parks also had a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds but in a lost cause.
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Rosario only scored two points after going 0 of 15 from the field.
Scores:
Barangay Ginebra 85 – Pringle 28, J. Aguilar 19, Tenorio 15, Dillinger 7, Tolentino 6, Thompson 4, Caperal 2, Chan 2, Mariano 2, Balanza 0.
TNT 79 – Castro 19, Erram 17, Parks 15, Pogoy 12, Washington 9, Enciso 3, De Leon 2, Rosario 2, Reyes 0, Semerad 0, Montalbo 0.
Quarters: 20-11; 36-32; 64-57; 85-79.
