BARANGAY Ginebra clinched a semifinal berth in the PBA 49th Season Philippine Cup by beating Converge, 88-80, on Friday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The Gin Kings made a Final Four match-up with top-seed San Miguel moot and academic following a second quarter that saw them outscore the FiberXers, 28-15.
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RJ Abarrientos scored 21 points, while Japeth Aguilar had 19 points, 13 rebounds, and three blocks for the No. 4-seeded Gin Kings, who will begin their best-of-seven semifinal series against the Beermen on Wednesday.
Abarrientos nailed a corner jumper with 56.4 seconds left for an 86-76 lead to keep the fifth-seeded Converge at bay for good.
Ginebra also kept Converge’s big men of Justine Baltazar and Justin Arana from dominating inside the paint, limiting them to eight and seven rebounds, respectively.
Tim Cone said Ginebra made sure not to look past dangerous Converge.
“If you look past a young, hungry team like this, and you are looking forward to playing San Miguel, and you get bit by the young, hungry team, and you don’t make it to playing San Miguel. Our total focus was on Converge,” said Cone.
Jamie Malonzo had 14 points and six rebounds, while Stephen Holt produced 13 points, five rebounds, two assists, and two steals for the Gin Kings.
Arana and Baltazar had 15 and 13 points apiece, but didn’t produced double-doubles against the Gin Kings. The FiberXers led, 28-21, early in the second quarter, but conceded a 14-3 blast to the Gin Kings and lost the lead for good before halftime.
The scores:
Barangay Ginebra 88 – Abarrientos 21, J. Aguilar 19, Malonzo 14, Holt 13, Rosario 10, Pinto 5, Thompson 3, Ahanmisi 3, David 0, Adamos 0.
Converge 80 – Arana 15, Baltazar 13, Stockton 12, Winston 10, Garcia 8, Racal 8, Caralipio 6, Corpuz 4, Delos Santos 2, R. Santos 2, B. Santos 0, Suerte 0.
Quarters: 21-26; 49-41; 73-59; 88-80.
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