Two of the most popular teams in the PBA ever—the San Miguel Beermen and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel—squared off at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai for a special out-of-country offering for fans. The two teams didn’t disappoint, going down to the wire until the Beermen finally pulled out an 83-81 thriller. With the win, San Miguel leveled its ledger to 2-2 while Ginebra dropped to 1-3.
What Happened?
San Miguel controlled the first half, slogging its way to an early 24-16 advantage after one and then building a 40-30 lead going into halftime. Ginebra, led by RJ Abarrientos’s three-point shooting, returned the favor with a 28-21 third quarter to cut the lead to 71-68 going into the payoff period. Ginebra, though, couldn’t overtake San Miguel in the nip-and-tuck fourth quarter, which ended with a Scottie Thompson desperation heave that could’ve given Ginebra the dramatic buzzer-beating win.
Who Stood Out?
There weren’t a lot of truly standout performances in this poor shooting game full of turnovers from both sides. But June Mar Fajardo was solid and steady, top-scoring for the Beermen with 17 points on top of 16 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 blocks.
Over at Ginebra, Japeth Aguilar was solid as well, finishing with 20 points and 12 boards. Scottie Thompson, meanwhile, did it all with 15 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. RJ Abarrientos, for his part, had that strong third quarter and finished with 17.
3 Keys to the Game
- Shooting. Not a lot of teams will win a game shooting 31.6% overall, which Ginebra just did. San Miguel, for its part, shot just well enough at 41.1% to fend off Ginebra’s gritty second-half fightback.
- June Mar Fajardo. The Kraken was a picture of calm amid Ginebra’s rally. When things went south for the Beermen, they just dumped the ball down low to Fajardo, who did the rest, either getting a big bucket or assisting on one.
- Free throws. Led by Fajardo again, San Miguel doubled up Ginebra in free throw attempts, 25-12, hitting 15 in contrast to Ginebra’s 9. In a two-point ballgame, that made a whale of a difference.
Next Up for the PBA
The PBA will be back in the Ynares Center in Antipolo on Wednesday with a double-header featuring the Blackwater Bossing taking on the NLEX Road Warriors in the first game and the TNT Tropang 5G going up against the Meralco Bolts in the second game.
Blackwater vs. NLEX (5:15 p.m.)
Meralco vs. TNT (7:30 p.m.)
