Lampley, who helped Red Bull win the 2002 Commissioner’s Cup championship, had a stirring debut with Ginebra, making 29 points and 15 rebounds despite working out only two times with the Kings before last night’s game.
A last-minute replacement to Mustapha Hoff, Lampley paced himself well before taking over the game in the final half. He made 24 of his game-high output in the final 20 minutes of play.
"He’s still a bit out of shape, having practised with us only twice. But he showed his professionalism and carried us on his shoulder," said Ginebra coach Siot Tanquingcen.
"It’s good to know that we have a reliable import. But we can’t rely on him so much. Eventually, it will work against us so we better improve playing well together," Tanquingcen added.
In fact, the Tigers controlled the tempo of the game with John Arigo, Ali Peek and import Alex Carcamo taking turns in delivering the goods.
Dennis Miranda, Coke’s No. 3 pick overall out of FEU, also did a decent job directing plays for the Tigers early on.
However, Lampley proved unstoppable when he started to assert himself, and with his teammates taking the cue, the Kings rode a searing run in the fourth quarter to turn the tide on their favor.
Lampley, Jayjay Helterbrand and Sunday Salvacion teamed up in a decisive 10-to-nothing attack that had Ginebra surging ahead to stay at 81-75.
The Kings actually outscored the badly-stunned Tigers, 18-6, in the in the last 9:13 of play to the delight, as usual, of their big throngs in the venue.
Mark Caguioa, Helterbrand and Andy Seigle backed up Lampley with 15, 14 and 13 points, respectively, while Romel Adducul contributed 12 rebounds, six points and two blocks in playing the lead role at the front court in the continued absence of Eric Menk.