Cone happy over Ginebra character win vs Blackwater

MANILA, Philippines -- Multi-titled PBA coach Tim Cone was pleased to see Barangay Ginebra fought through adversity, relying on pure grit and determination to outlast a pesky Blackwater side, 102-94 in double overtime Saturday night in Angeles City.

The victory earned Ginebra a quarterfinal spot, just a month after opening the 41st season with an anemic 1-3 win-loss record.

“I told the guys before the game that we're gonna bleed for this one (against Blackwater) and we bled a lot more than I thought we're going to,” Cone said, whose team chalked up its fourth win in the last five games to improve to 5-4 overall.

The American mentor described the hard-fought win against Blackwater as a “character game”.

“These are the kind of games that our team and our guys need to play and battle for and reach deep for these are character games for us,” he said.

“And we're trying to build character.”

While big boys Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar as expected dominated the paint, it was the guards led by LA Tenorio and rookie Scottie Thompson, who came through with big baskets in the second overtime to preserve the win.

The 31-year-old Tenorio knocked down a triple to shatter a 94-94 count, before Thompson sealed the deal with another three-pointer from the corner, sending the pro-Ginebra crowd at the Angeles University Foundation gym in a frenzy.

“These are important for us to develop as a team and as a unit, so it's a lot more fun learning from wins than it is learning from losses,” said a beaming Cone, who was plucked out of Star during the offseason to handle an underachieving Ginebra side that last won a PBA championship in 2008.

“I am glad that we won and am glad we learned a little bit more.”

Slaughter finished the game with a new PBA career-high 35 points, to go along with 15 rebounds, four assists and two blocks.

Aguilar added 25 and seven boards, while Thompson, the former NCAA MVP, flirted with a triple-double after finishing with nine points, nine rebounds and six assists in more than 28 minutes off the bench.