MANILA, Philippines -- LA Tenorio let his game did the talking on Monday night as the beleaguered Ginebra point guard rebounded from his Saturday blues.
Redemption came quick for the All Star point guard two nights after he uncharacteristically botched two plays in the endgame of Game Five allowing the San Mig Super Coffee Mixers to steal the win, 79-76.
Tenorio quickly erased that stigma with a big game helping the Kings climbed back from a 14-point hole to win Game Six in a dramatic fashion, 94-91, setting up a winner-take-all Game Seven on Wednesday.
Getting a huge lift from the people who kepth their faith in him, the Gilas point guard scored 16 points, including two booming triples in the third, that chopped down a once imposing 14-point lead by the Mixers to just a solitary point entering the fourth.
“Nagdasal lang talaga ako. Iyung before the game, I passed by the church, yun lang ang naging lakas ng loob ko to get back in the game,†said Tenorio breaking his two-day silence with the media.
He also took to heart the open letter (entitled Tiwala) he received from Ateneo senior student and die-hard Ginebra fan Erson Villangca that went viral on Sunday.
"Nakakataba ng puso, nakakagana ulit. Oo nangyari yun, pero may mga tao pa ring nagtitiwala. Three times ko binasa yung letter bago mag-start ang game," said Tenorio, who dedicated Game Six to all the people who supported him to overcome the stigma of that painful Game Five loss .
The Ginebra die-hards never lost their faith in Tenorio. And never did he lose his faith in God amidst the biggest adversity he had to face in his career.
"Intense lang talaga ang fans ng Ginebra. Unusual sa akin yung mental lapse na ganun. Pero nangyayari yun sa lahat ng players. I made a mistake," Tenorio took a pause.
"Well, it was a big mistake. For me it's the biggest mistake I've ever done in my whole career."
But bounce back he did.
Tenorio was spectacular on Monday night rallying his team in the third canto and at times pulling them together to on-court huddles at the height of the Mixers' first half onslaught.
After committing 12 errors in the past two games, Tenorio took care of the ball better ending up with only three turnovers while piling up three boards and three assists to lace up his big offensive game.
But he acknowledged that he could not have done it all by his lonesome.
“I didn’t think for myself na babawi ako. Ang iniisip ko lang yung team na manalo ngayon (last night),†Tenorio said.
“I think 'yun ang key sa turnaround. I asked the players na tulungan din ako. Manalo lang kami, malaking tulong na sa akin, that’s why I want to thank my teammates for lifting my morale,†he added.
Even his celebrity friends led by Billy Joe Crawford, Zanjoe Marudo and Jhong Hilario all came wearing Tenorio jerseys to support him in the biggest test of his career.
"Sobrang nkakatuwa. Hindi ko nga alam na pupunta sila. Dinedicate ko yung game na yun sa lahat ng taong sumuporta sa akin," he said.
"Pero hindi pa tapos," Tenorio added. "It's a good sign that there is a Game 7. Malaking bagay na ang team namin diyan magaling eh kapag may adversities."