SMART CLARK GIGA CITY — Stanley Pringle incurred two offensive fouls about five minutes into Barangay Ginebra’s Game 1 meeting with Meralco in the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup semifinals, Wednesday night.
That, of course, worried head coach Tim Cone.
“I was a little scared when Stanley picked up two quick fouls in the first quarter. I thought that was going to mean a bad night for us,” said the decorated mentor, who quickly pulled out Pringle at the 7:40-mark of the first quarter.
The score was still at a 4-all when Pringle subbed out. Fortunately for the Gin Kings, Aljon Mariano — who came in his place — LA Tenorio, Scottie Thompson, Prince Caperal, and Arvin Tolentino continued the fight.
The Fil-Am guard then checked back in with 1:23 left in the period, for Tenorio. And come the second frame, he made sure to avoid picking up fouls. Instead, he just did what he does best: providing on offense.
Pringle scored nine in the quarter, including a triple that widened their lead to five approaching the midway mark. And moments later, Ginebra began to pull away, unloading an 11-2 run to finish the half with a 48-36 lead.
“Our guys were able to hold the fort until he was ready to come back late in the first quarter, and we made a little run before halftime. And that gave us a little bit of cushion going into the third quarter,” Cone said.
Pringle eventually ended up with 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting on top of seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals. The Barangay went on to bag the 96-79 victory to seize the 1-0 lead in the race-to-three affair.
He wasn’t alone in providing the offense, though. A total of six players scored in double figures in the win. Thompson and Tolentino each had 13; Mariano and Tenorio had 11 apiece; and Caperal made 10.
“To me, it was a great team game,” Cone said. “Stanley played great, he deserved Player of the Game, but there were a lot of contributions out there. We did a lot better offensively than I thought we would against their defense.”
Pringle — who has been Ginebra’s top scorer prior to the playoffs with 18.7 points a game — was simply happy to get Game One, stressing its significance given the length of the series.
“Definitely a big significance because Game One is crucial in a best-of-five series, unlike in a [best-of-seven] where you have more games,” said the six-year pro, who arrived at the Barangay last season.
“Job’s not complete. We got Game Two coming up.”
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