ANTIPOLO – Barangay Ginebra went on a huge run in the final quarter to overcome San Miguel, 110-94, in a do-or-die Game 5 on Tuesday and advance to the semifinals of the PBA 50th Season Governors’ Cup.
The Gin Kings went on a 25-2 run to start the fiinal quarter, giving the Beermen a dose of their own medicine after the latter went on a 22-0 second-half blast in their Game 4 win that dragged the series into a decider.
Ginebra drew a game-changing performance from Nards Pinto on both ends to fuel that blitzkrieg that turned the game completely around, enabling the Gin Kings to avoid the ignominy of blowing a 2-0 series lead.
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From there, everything went right for the Gin Kings to arrange a best-of-five semifinal duel with TNT beginning on December 4.
That huge Ginebra run was ended by a George King basket, but the SMB import mindlessly fouled RJ Abarrientos afterwards for his sixth and final foul with still 5:13 remaining.
Jordan Murphy had 31 points and 11 rebounds while Scottie Thompson had 29 points, eight rebounds, and five steals for the Gin Kings in the series-clinching win.
Ginebra outscored San Miguel, 34-14, in the fourth quarter on its way to a semifinal appearance.
A Thompson three-point play off a steal against King tied the game at 80-80 early in the fourth, and Pinto gave Ginebra the lead on a lay-up off another San Miguel turnover.
King tied the count but Ginebra answered with a 19-0 run to take the driver’s seat for good.
King had 31 points for the Beermen, while Fajardo had 20 points but spent the last few minutes of the third and the first few minutes of the fourth on the bench and in the dugout after he sustained a cut above his eye.
“I just thought that we did a better job of guarding George King in the fourth quarter. We tried to limit his touches and deny him a little bit more,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.
“We got a break when June Mar went out a little bit, and then the foul trouble… We started the game right from the very start, trying to get the ball to Jordan and we wanted to attack that match-up, and see if we could get him in foul trouble.”
It was a disappointing finish for San Miguel, which was up, 76-63, its biggest lead of the contest only to score just four afterwards to enter the fourth ahead by only four points, 80-76.
RJ Abarrientos had 19 points including a four that was part of that closing run by Barangay Ginebra at the end of the third.
The semifinals won’t be played until December 4 as the league takes another break for Gilas Pilipinas’ participation in the FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian Qualifiers.
The scores:
Barangay Ginebra 110 – Murphy 31, Thompson 29, Abarrientos 19, Pinto 9, J. Aguilar 7, Holt 5, Rosario 4, Go 3, Cu 3, Gray 0.
San Miguel 82 – King 31, Fajardo 20, Perez 15, Trollano 10, Ahanmisi 9, Lassiter 4, Teng 3, Ross 2, Brondial 0, Tautuaa 0.
Quarters: 26-20; 49-57; 76-80; 110-94.
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