Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — LA Tenorio had a great individual night for Barangay Ginebra on Friday night in Game 1 of the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals against the Meralco Bolts – finishing the night with a career high of 36 points.
But unfortunately that wasn’t enough to prevent Meralco from drawing first blood, 114-109.
According to Tenorio, he would rather have not scored and come away with the victory instead.
“I don’t mind scoreless, as long as we win the game,” Tenorio admitted.
Instead, the veteran floor general emphasized the importance of defense in the series and how it did not show up on that night.
“Giving up 114 points is too much,” Tenorio said. “Hindi nga namin binigyan ang San Miguel ng ganun e. Yan talaga ang problema [We didn’t even give that much to San Miguel. That was the problem]. We have to go back to basics.”
Fellow veteran Joe Devance also lamented how the Gin Kings relaxed when they led and said that he hoped they have learned their lesson.
“We knew how hard this team is going to play, and we still let down for whatever reason,” Devance said. “It’s a learning experience, hopefully we can learn from this and just get better prepared mentally.”
Devance also added that his team lacked the intangibles against Meralco, and that Ginebra would need to address that.
“It wasn’t about Xs and Os, it was just heart. That is something we just kind of lacked, we let up. We will see what happens in the next game,” Devance added.
Ginebra will get the chance to even out the series against the Meralco Bolts on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
