SCOTTIE Thompson had 25 points and Barangay Ginebra weathered another Rain or Shine fightback, 103-98, on Sunday to claim the upperhand for the first time in their PBA 50th Season Commissioner’s Cup semifinal series.
The do-it-all Thompson drained five threes including one at the 2:15 mark of Game 3 for a 99-91 lead which held until the final buzzer. He rounded out his game-long brilliance with 7 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals and a block.
READ Game 3 hero Thompson never ceases to amaze Cone
Ginebra survived the hot-shooting of Andrei Caracut early in the game and the shooting woes of RJ Abarrientos in the first half to grab a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, which takes a much-needed two-day break before Game 4 on Wednesday.
Rain or Shine came within five points, 99-91, before Thompson’s critical three. The Elasto Painters also opened a 26-13 lead early after Caracut made five threes in the first quarter before a crowd of 13,524 fans at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Thompson and Justin Brownlee took charge in the third canto where they had 11 and 10 apiece as Ginebra outscored Rain or Shine, 29-12, to race to a 77-68 lead.
Brownlee finished with 24 points on 8-of-22 shooting while RJ Abarrientos had 17 points including 10 in the final quarter after struggling in the first half where he only had five points.
“We just told our guys at halftime to keep battling. We didn’t feel Justin had a good shooting half and RJ was struggling a little bit. We felt like at some point, they will start figuring it out, as long we kept up our defense, kept getting back and defending, then we will have a chance to win this game,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.
“That kinda happened, kinda turned around in the third quarter. Justin started to get going, RJ hit a couple of shots, Scottie was awesome all night,” said Cone.
Caelan Tiongson returned after missing the first two games of the semifinal series with a bum stomach and finished with 23 points including a couple of threes in the fourth to help Rain or Shine build a rally.
Jaylen Johnson had 23 points, 21 rebounds, and eight assists, and nailed a four-point shot to narrow the gap to 101-98. But Ginebra guard Stephen Holt made two free throws with 11.4 seconds left to settle the final count.
The scores:
Barangay Ginebra 103 – Thompson 25, Brownlee 24, Abarrientos 17, Holt 11, Rosario 9, J. Aguilar 7, Gray 7, Cu 3, Pinto 0, Go 0, Torres 0.
Rain or Shine 98 – Johnson 23, Tiongson 23, Nocum 17, Caracut 15, Mamuyac 7, Clarito 5, Asistio 3, David 3, Malonzo 2, Santillan 0, Manaytay 0.
Quarters: 27-30; 48-56; 77-68; 103-98.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
