Barangay Ginebra San Miguel is on the cusp of another PBA Governors’ Cup finals after beating the San Miguel Beermen, 121-92, in Game 5 of their semifinal series on Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
But it looked like the crowd darlings were headed for back-to-back losses as the Beermen raced to a 33-20 advantage right at the opening frame.
Ginebra, though, would wipe out that 13-point deficit in just under three minutes, unleashing a 14-0 end-of-quarter run to storm ahead, 34-33, going to the second canto. Starring for the Barangay was old reliable Scottie Thompson, who spearheaded what turned out to be the game-changing blitz for Ginebra with a personal 7-0 spurt.
“I don’t know what we would’ve done without Scottie in that first quarter,” admitted Ginebra coach Tim Cone in the postgame press conference.
Ginebra Races Out to the Big Win
The Barangay carried that momentum well into the second period, where they outscored the Beermen, 29-17, as RJ Abarrientos, Justin Brownlee, and Japeth Aguilar all got into the act. San Miguel and Ginebra played to a draw in the third canto before the Cone-mentored squad broke the game wide open in the final frame with some prolific sniping from downtown led by Abarrientos.
The former FEU standout finished with a career-high 28 points for Ginebra on 3-for-5 shooting from trey ball, while Thompson contributed 22 points—including 18 in the first quarter alone. He also added 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals. Brownlee chipped in a rather quiet 18-point, 9-rebound, 7-assist stat line.
Import EJ Anosike carried the fight for San Miguel, who turned the ball over 19 times and shot a woeful 6-for-27 from the arc. June Mar Fajardo had 17 points and 18 rebounds.
Ginebra will try to book a ticket to the PBA Governors’ Cup finals in Game 6 on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Scores:
- GINEBRA 121 – Abarrientos 28, Thompson 22, Brownlee 18, J.Aguilar 15, Ahanmisi 13, Holt 9, Cu 4, Pinto 3, Adamos 2, Devance 2, Pessumal 2, R. Aguilar 2, Mariano 1
- SAN MIGUEL 92 – Anosike 21, Fajardo 17, Perez 16, Lassiter 16, Trollano 7, Ross 4, Enciso 4, Cruz 3, Brondial 2, Romeo 2
