PBA: Ginebra completes Christmas Day comeback, finishes off Star in OT

Sol Mercado had 17 points, six rebounds and five assists, but it was LA Tenorio's go-ahead trey with two seconds left that gave Barangay Ginebra San Miguel a 92-89 victory on Christmas Day, eliminating sister team Star Hotshots at the MOA Arena in Pasay City.

Tenorio had 11 points, six assists, three rebounds and three steals, while Joe Devance and Mark Caguioa had 10 each. Star limited Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar to just 12 and nine points, respectively.

An 8-0 blast to start the fourth put Star comfortably ahead by 18, 72-54, after Justin Melton found Alex Mallari with 9:42 remaining.

The large deficit had some Ginebra fans leaving the arena, before the Kings uncorked a 26-8 run capped off by a Scottie Thompson make, 80-all, with three seconds to go.

Off a timeout, Sol Mercado picked off the inbounds pass, but missed a hurried layup to force extra time.

In OT, it was all triples for the two teams, with Mercado hitting the game-tying trey with 89-all. Star struggled to convert on their final play, committing a 24-second violation to give Ginebra the ball.

With four seconds left, Ginebra went for the win, as Mercado found Tenorio open for a three for the win.

PJ Simon paced Star with 17 points, while Ian Sangalang added 13 off the bench. Mark Barroca tallied 11, while James Yap struggled for 10 points off a 16 percent shooting clip.

With the win, Ginebra booked a duel with the GlobalPort Batang Pier. - GMA News