The San Miguel Beermen held off Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 101-98, on Tuesday at the City of Dasmariñas Arena to keep their PBA Governors’ Cup campaign alive. With the win, the Beermen cut Ginebra’s series lead to 2-1, with Game 4 scheduled on Friday.
What Happened?
For the first time in this series, San Miguel kept Ginebra from a strong opening quarter, finishing the first quarter ahead by five, 23-18, behind some solid defense. The Beermen continued to play stellar defense in the second canto, at one point going on a 13-2 run to turn a 32-30 lead into a 43-32 advantage with a little over three minutes left before halftime. San Miguel looked poised to enter intermission with a double-digit lead, but Scottie Thompson hit a buzzer-beating four-pointer at the horn to make it 54-46.
The Beermen, playing with a sense of urgency this time, stayed in control of Game 3 early in the third and were still up, 71-60, at the 4:32 mark when Ginebra made its move, outscoring San Miguel, 14-8, to cut the lead to 79-74 heading into the final frame. Ginebra and San Miguel then went point for point for much of the fourth until RJ Abarrientos came alive late. With Abarrientos taking over and Isaac Go providing a spark off the bench, the crowd darlings got to within one point a couple of times, at 89-88 with 6:22 remaining, at 91-90 a few minutes later, and at 99-98 with 1:04 left in regulation. The Beermen ultimately held on for the Game 3 win after Scottie Thompson missed a potential game-tying trey and Abarrientos muffed a possible game-winning four at the horn.
Who Stood Out?
June Mar Fajardo played his best game of the series in Game 3, tallying 18 points and 13 boards as he played with more purpose and aggression. Marcio Lassiter, meanwhile, broke out of a two-game slump with 13 points, all in the second half. George King also helped out with a 21-point, 12-rebound double-double.
For Ginebra, Abarrientos bucked a slow start to pour in a team-high 21 markers on top of 6 boards and 3 dimes. Go, meanwhile, came off the bench and scored a conference-best 17 on 3-for-5 shooting from downtown. Jeremiah Gray also sparked Ginebra with 13 points on 3-for-6 shooting from three-point range.
3 Keys to the Game
- Defense. After surrendering over 100 points in each of the first two games, San Miguel finally buckled down on defense, limiting Ginebra to just 98 points. The Beermen’s biggest adjustment on that side of the ball was in their coverage of Jordan Murphy, whom they limited to only 17 markers with constant double teams and collapsing defense whenever he took it inside. Murphy also had 5 of Ginebra’s 14 turnovers.
- Second-chance points. Ginebra nearly matched San Miguel in offensive rebounding, grabbing 18 to the Beermen’s 19. However, San Miguel made the most of its offensive boards, converting them into 29 second-chance points. The Barangay, on the other hand, scored only 15 off its offensive caroms.
- Starter play. San Miguel’s first unit outplayed Ginebra’s, outscoring the latter, 73-62. Crucially, the Beermen got contributions from all five of their starters, while Ginebra got very little from Japeth Aguilar and Stephen Holt.
Next Up for the PBA: Quarterfinals
Friday, November 6, 2026 | Smart Araneta Coliseum
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel vs. San Miguel Beermen (5:15 p.m.)
Converge FiberXers vs. Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (7:30 p.m.)
