LA Tenorio had his much-awaited debut with Barangay Ginebra and the crack point guard did not disappoint as he towed the Kings to an easy 110-90 win over Global Port Batang Pier last night at the start 38th PBA Philippine Cup at the packed Araneta Coliseum.
Tenorio didn’t score much but made life easy for his teammates as he dished off 10 assists that went along with his nine rebounds and two points.
Tenorio joined forces with Mark Caguioa when Global Port (formerly Powerade) threatened within 84-96 after staring at several 20-point deficits.
The Kings put the game away behind an 11-0 run inside the final four minutes.
Tenorio paired up with Caguioa thrice in that run capped by an alley-oop play that made it 103-88 with only 1:03 left.
Caguioa paced the Kings with 18 points, while Rico Maierhofer and Billy Mamaril chipped in 14 points each.
Rookies Keith Jensen and Chris Ellis also had superb showings in their debuts, helping the Kings’ cause with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
BOX SCORES
GINEBRA (110) – Caguioa 18, Maierhofer 14, Mamaril 14, Jensen 13, Ellis 12, Hatfield 11, Raymundo 8, Maliksi 7, Helterbrand 5, Cortez 4, Tenorio 2, Wilson 2.
GLOBAL PORT (90) – Miller 26, Lingganay 14, Mandani 13, David 9, Vanlandingham 7, Salvador 7, Al-Hussaini 4, Raymundo 2, Manuel 2, Deutchman 2, Guevarra 2, Yee 2, Adducul 0, Cruz 0.
QUARTERSCORES: 26-20, 55-39, 86-64, 110-90.