Gin Kings escape Tropang Giga for 3rd straight win

MANILA, Philippines -- Make it three in a row.

The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel won their third straight game and squeaked past the TNT Tropang Giga, 87-83, in a colossal PBA Philippine Cup matchup Friday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

The twin towers of Christian Standhardinger and Japeth Aguilar finished with 20-point double-doubles, with the former recording 15 rebounds and five assists, and the latter posting 10 boards and a block.

Ginebra led by nine, 74-65, with 7:29 remaining following a big 3-pointer by Scottie Thompson.

A 6-0 run by the Tropang Giga capped by a layup by RR Pogoy towed TNT back to the game, 71-74, with 5:36 left.

After five straight points by Nards Pinto gave Ginebra an eight point lead, 79-71, the Tropang Giga stormed back and unleashed a 12-4 run to tie things up at 83 thanks to a triple by Calvin Oftana.

And, with 55 seconds left, Thompson punched in a dagger trey to go up, 86-83.

In the next possessions, Pogoy and Jayson Castro missed potential game-tying triples, forcing TNT to foul Mav Ahanmisi to try to stop the clock.

Ahanmisi missed both free throws, but Kelly Williams tipped the ball up and hit the shot clock, giving the ball back to the Gin Kings.

A split from the line by Aguilar iced the game, 87-83, as Williams missed a 3-pointer on the other end.

Thompson stuffed the statsheet with 17 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, five steals and two blocks. Ralph Cu added 12 markers.

Pogoy and Oftana had 19 points apiece for the Tropang Giga.

With the win, Ginebra rose to 6-3 in the season, strengthening their bid to the quarterfinals. TNT, on the other hand, dropped to 4-4.