TERRAFIRMA beat reigning champion Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 95-90, on Friday, the second giant the Dyip slayed in two days in the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup at the Don Honorio Ventura State University gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.
Juami Tiongson again took control of the wheel in the Dyip’s first-ever victory in 17 confrontations with the Gin Kings. Terrafirma joined the league in 2014.
“I just did what I had to do,” said Tiongson, who reset his career-high of 28 points he nailed in their 110-104 overtime win over San Miguel Beer on Wednesday by scattering 31 points against Ginebra.
Tiongson went on 9-of-15 shooting from beyond the arc and dished out six assists, grabbed three rebounds and made three steals in another stella performance in the league’s restart of its 46th season.
Tiongson credited his newfound accuracy and explosiveness to strength and conditioning Coach Mico Cabungan for keeping the team in shape during the break.
“This means everything and this win won’t be possible if not for the sacrifices made by Rashawn [McCarthy] who hit the big shot, Matt [Ganuelas-Rosser] for his defense, Dray [Aldrech Ramos] and Eric [Camson] for those layup,” Tiongson said. “Everyone did his role.”
Terrafirma improved to 2-4 won-lost while Ginebra dropped to 2-3.
Carrying the momentum from their upset of the Beermen two nights ago, the Dyip held off the Gin Kings throughout and kept their poise at crunch time when the Gin Kings scored 11 straight points to cut the deficit to 85-88 with 1:15 left on Christian Standhardinger’s two free throws.
But McCarthy, who had 10 points in the game, hit a big triple to push Terrafirma ahead by six with 50.2 ticks left.
Japeth Aguilar, who finished with 16 points and six rebounds, countered with a reverse layup to keep Ginebra in the game, 87-91, with 37 seconds left.
Philip Andreas Cahilig got the offensive rebound before making an off-balance pass to Eric Camson for an easy layup and the Dyip were well on their way, 93-87, only 17 seconds remaining.
Tiongson sealed Terrafirma’s win with two charities with two seconds left.
Ginebra’s Stanley Pringle nailed a three-pointer for the final count.
Camson contributed 15 points and 13 rebounds, while Aldrech Ramos had 11 points and Matt Ganuelas-Rosser made seven points, four assists and four steals.
“Everyone who played was determined to win, they worked really hard,” Terrafirma Coach John Cardel said. “They played as a team. I give credit to all my coaches. They really also worked hard.”
Terrafirma, which led by as many as 72-55 in the third period, outscored Ginebra from the three-point zone, 17-9.
Standhardinger led Ginebra with 17 points and eight rebounds.
Magnolia routed winless Blackwater, 94-78, to bounce back from a frustrating defeat to Meralco. The Hotshots improved to 5-1 while the Bossing dropped to 0-6.