Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s late comeback against the Phoenix Fuel Masters fell short, with Jeremiah Gray’s last-gasp four-pointer veering wide left to give Phoenix the 81-78 win.
It was classic NSD on display late in the game, as Ginebra nearly came back from a 19-point deficit despite missing Scottie Thompson and Tim Cone getting ejected in the final minute. Unfortunately for Ginebra, Gray was forced to jack up a desperation heave from 26 feet in the team’s final possession.
Broken Play Leads to Gray Heave
Afterward, the 29-year-old Fil-Am told Rebanse that the last play was intended for import Riley Grigsby, but Phoenix’s switching defense forced an audible.
“We just drew something up to get our import a good clean shot, but we know they were probably going to switch everything,” Gray explained.
Ginebra had the right idea. In his PBA debut, Grigsby dropped 42 big points spiked with three triples and a four-pointer. But, as Gray pointed out, Phoenix switched everything on that last play and covered the 26-year-old Justin Brownlee replacement.
“We’re trying to fight through, so he told us whoever gets the ball just try to make the shot. So, it ended up in my hands. I tried to put it up, but I kinda rushed it a little bit [and] couldn’t get it in,” Gray added about that ill-fated play. “We’ll just bounce back next game.”
The Need for Locals to Step Up
If Ginebra is to bounce back like Gray said, it will need the locals to step up. Aside from Grigsby, no other Ginebra player finished in double digits, with Gray coming closest with his 9 points on 3-for-14 shooting.
RJ Abarrientos, the reigning Best Player of the Conference, wasn’t much help in particular, as he tallied only 8 points on an even worse 3-for-16 clip. Troy Rosario, a key player in Ginebra’s championship run last conference, had just 4 points, Japeth Aguilar scored just 1, and Stephen Holt laid a 0.
The good news for Ginebra is it will have a five-day break before it returns to action on Friday, July 24, versus the Blackwater Bossing.
