The San Miguel Beermen came back from 17 down to stun Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 108-102, on Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. With the win, the Beermen sent their PBA Governors’ Cup series to a Game 5 winner-take-all on Tuesday, November 10, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
What Happened?
San Miguel and Ginebra went point for point to start the game, ending the opening frame at 26 apiece as George King found a rhythm early for the Beermen and Troy Rosario and Isaac Go sparked the barangay. The crowd darlings then got hot in the second quarter, with Ralph Cu firing 11 points off the bench and Go and Rosario continuing to excel. In contrast, San Miguel went cold, scoring only 15 to Ginebra’s 29 to enter halftime trailing, 55-41.
Ginebra continued to stay in control early in the third canto, building its biggest lead at 17, 61-44, after RJ Abarrientos hit two freebies off a flagrant foul on Marcio Lassiter and Jordan Murphy made a basket inside. Then came San Miguel’s onslaught, a blistering 22-0 blast jump-started by a King triple, a Lassiter free throw, and a King four-pointer, all within 45 seconds. The Beermen extended that lead to 87-73 at the end of three as Chris Ross, Cjay Perez, and Jericho Cruz got into it as well.
The Beermen looked well on their way to a blowout win early in the fourth as they built a 19-point lead, 98-79, with 7:52 remaining in regulation. But Ginebra unleashed a Scottie Thompson-led 21-5 run to crawl to within 103-100 with just a little over two minutes left. A King jumper restored some order for San Miguel, which sealed the game with crucial free throws from King and Ross and long-range misses from Ginebra.
Who Stood Out?
Ross gave another vintage playoff performance yet again, putting up 20 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, and 5 steals as he masterfully steered San Miguel’s offense and spearheaded its swarming defense. King, meanwhile, had his best game of the series, going off for a game-high 35 points to go along with 15 rebounds and 5 assists.
For Ginebra, it was Thompson who nearly led a comeback for the ages as he scored 10 of his team-high 27 points in the last six minutes. He also had 11 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals. Ginebra also drew solid games from the bench trio of Troy Rosario, Isaac Go, and Ralph Cu, who fired 15, 13, and 11 points, respectively.
3 Keys to the Game
- Chris Ross. The 41-year-old veteran turned back the clock in Game 4, seemingly going off after getting hit hard by Abarrientos early in the third quarter. That play seemed to fire up Ross, who took control of San Miguel’s offense and appeared to be everywhere all at once on defense.
- Third-Quarter Storm. Ginebra looked well on its way to ending the series after building a 17-point lead in the third. But after that hard foul by Abarrientos on Ross, the tide shifted dramatically as the Beermen not only erased that lead but also built a double-digit advantage of their own.
- Three-Point Shooting. San Miguel shot lights out on Friday, going 15-for-31 from distance compared to Ginebra’s 12-for-34. Crucially, the Beermen made 7 of their 15 treys during that massive third-quarter storm as Ginebra had no answers.
Next Up for the PBA: Quarterfinals
Tuesday, November 10, 2026 | Ynares Center Antipolo
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel vs. San Miguel Beermen (7:30 p.m.)
