The #1 San Miguel Beermen (3-2) dominated the middle quarters and held on in the fourth to move one win away from advancing to the finals, defeating the #5 Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 115-109. Meanwhile, the #2 TNT Tropang Giga (4-1) pulled off a thrilling 99-96 come-from-behind victory to eliminate the #8 Meralco Bolts (1-4) in Game 5 of the PBA Philippine Cup semi-finals on January 14.
Here are the players who made the biggest impact and the stats to prove it:
TOP PERFORMERS OF THE DAY:
Crispin John Cansino MER SF 36 PTS | 5 REB| 2 STL | 51.5 FPS
CJ delivered an outstanding effort, finishing with a career-high in scoring while contributing across the board. Despite the loss, he has been a bright spot this conference, averaging 18.5 points on 53% shooting from the field, along with 4.7 rebounds per game
Jordan Timothy Heading TNT SG 31 PTS | 5 AST | 3 STL | 51.3 FPS
This was Heading’s fifth game of the conference with at least 20 points and his best scoring output so far. Despite that, his production has been highly inconsistent, also scoring 9 and 0 points in their series.
Earl Scottie Thompson GIN SG 20 PTS | 7 AST | 7 REB | 45.9 FPS
Thompson continues to lead the way offensively, erupting for his third 20-point game of the playoffs after missing only one shot from the field and converting 7-of-7 from the line. Through five games in their series, he’s averaging 20.6 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6 assists.
Rhon Jay Abarrientos GIN PG 18 PTS | 7 AST | 3 STL | 43.5 FPS
RJ finished as the second-best scorer for Ginebra, but his struggles were clear, needing as many shots as his score. Despite the inefficiency, he’s still putting up 16.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 2.2 steals per game in this series.
Norman Aaron Black MER SG 17 PTS | 7 REB | 8 AST | 36.4 FPS
Black turned in an efficient game and matched his conference-high in scoring while contributing strongly in other areas. He’s capable of performances like this, but consistency has been an issue for him this conference.
June Mar Fajardo SMB C 21 PTS | 11 REB | 1 BLK | 36.2 FPS
JMF was held to single-digit scoring in his previous two games but bounced back in Game 5, posting game-highs in both points and rebounds. This marked his sixth 20-point performance of the conference, though it was also his lowest rebounding total over his last ten games.
Rey Benedict Nambatac TNT PG 25 PTS | 4 REB | 4 AST | 35.8 FPS
Despite dealing with several injuries, Nambatac powered through and came up big offensively, hitting all 11 of his shots from the line and posting his third 20-point game of the conference.
Christopher Ross SMB PG 9 PTS | 8 AST | 3 STL | 35.6 FPS
The veteran guard has been a major difference-maker over the last two games, posting his best scoring performance of the conference in Game 4 before following it up with a superb all-around effort in Game 5. He’s averaging 4 rebounds and 5.2 assists in the series against Ginebra.
Brandon Arnell Ganuelas-Rosser TNT PF 12 PTS | 5 REB | 5 BLK | 35.0 FPS
BGR has now scored in double figures five times in six games in the playoffs. While he wasn’t as productive on the boards in Game 5, he more than made up for it by setting a new conference high in blocks.
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE DAY:
Calvin Oftana TNT SF 10 PTS | 6 REB | 5 TO
Calvin has been struggling in the last three games, averaging just 10 points on a poor 9-for-32 shooting from the field.
