Bolts fight back, take Game One with OT thriller

LA Tenorio of Barangay Ginebra drives against Chris Newsome of the Meralco Bolts as import Alan Durham looks on during Game 1 of the PBA Governors Cup best-of-7 Finals Series (INQUIRER).

The Meralco Bolts came back from a 15-point second half deficit to frustrate the Barangay Ginebra Kings via a 114-109 overtime thriller at the start of the 2016 PBA Governors’ Cup best-of-seven championship series last night at the Araneta Coliseum.
Jimmy Alapag nailed a booming triple in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter before import Allen Durham took over in the overtime that sealed the Bolts’ impressive come-from-behind win.

Ginebra was poised to take the series-opener when it posted its biggest leads of the game at 58-43.

Ginebra, which is looking to end an eight-year title drought, even took a 96-87 lead in the final 5:42 of regulation.

But Alapag, fellow veteran Reynel Hugnatan and Durham teamed up to lead the Bolts’ huge fightback to the chagrin of the partisan Ginebra crowd.

Hugnatan scored in the paint that tied the score at 98-all with less than two minutes left before LA Tenorio put the Kings in front again with a nifty layup with 54.8 seconds to go.

Then after a broken play, Alapag nailed a historic triple as the Bolts finally stole the lead, 101-100, 33.4 ticks remaining.

The booming triple allowed Alapag to tie Allan Caidic’s 1,242 trifectas-the mosy three-pointers made by a player in the league.

Durham made it a two-point Meralco lead, 102-100, with a split free throw with 6.8 seconds to go.

Tenorio, however, converted a runner with 2.1 seconds left before Durham missed a three-pointer that sent the game to a five-minute extension.

Durham then carried the Bolts on his shoulder when he scored seven straight points to start the extension period, giving Meralco a 109-102 lead.

Justin Brownlee broke Ginebra’s silence with a mid-range jumper but Cliff Hodge answered with a booming triple as Meralco pulled away, 112-104.

Durham finished with a whopping 46 points, including a five-for-six clip from the three-point area.

Chris Newsome added 17 markers, Hugnatan donated 15, while Alapag contributed 13.

The loss spoiled the brilliant game of Tenorio, who reset his career-high by scattering 36 points.

Brownlee settled for just 17 markers.

Mark Caguioa and Joe Devance were the only other Ginebra locals to score in twin digits with 14 and 13, respectively.

Japeth Aguilar managed just six points and fouled out early in the fourth.

THE SCORES:

MERALCO (114) – Durham 46, Newsome 17, Hugnatan 15, Alapag 13, Faundo 8, Amer 5, Caram 4, Hodge 4, Buenafe 2, Nabong 0, Uyloan 0.

GINEBRA (109) – Tenorio 36, Brownlee 17, Caguioa 14, Devance 13, Mercado 8, Thompson 8, Aguilar 6, Cruz 5, Marcelo 2, Mariano 0.QUARTERSCORES: 31-28, 42-53, 75-80, 102-102, 114-109.