By Adrian Stewart Co

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel battled back numerous times against the Magnolia Hotshots before cruising to a 97-93 overtime victory in the 2019 Honda PBA Philippine Cup last Sunday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Earl Scottie Thompson led Ginebra with 27 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists; while Japeth Aguilar and Gregory Slaughter added 16 and 11 points, respectively.

From a 15-all score, Ginebra went on a huge run and built a 28-15 lead on baskets from Thompson, Arthur dela Cruz and Kevin Ferrer. The Hotshots countered with a rally but only got to within 43-35 at the half.

Magnolia continued its run in the third and was able to cut the deficit to 45-44 but Ginebra answered with Thompson, Aguilar and Dela Cruz and increased their lead to 79-70.

Ginebra thought victory was in the bag as they carries an 85-79 lead with 45 seconds left in the game but the Hotshots forced the game into overtime on back-to-back triples by Jiovani Jalalon.

Ginebra zoomed to a 96-90 lead in the extension period on baskets from LA Tenorio, Thompson, and Aguilar.

Magnolia attempted another run but a free throw by Tenorio iced the win for Ginebra./ASC, WDJ