SAN Miguel and Barangay Ginebra moved closer to a blockbuster semifinal showdown in the PBA Governors’ Cup after each took a commanding 2-0 lead in their respective quarterfinals series.
Import EJ Anosike fired 41 points to power the Beermen to a 107-100 win over the Converge FiberXers.
The Kings meanwhile, went to old-reliable Justin Brownlee who bailed them out of trouble in the endgame of a 104-103 classic against the Meralco Bolts.
Both teams will go for the kill on Monday as they try to wrap up their respective series and arrage a highly-anticipated showdown in the best-of-seven semifinals.
Listed below are the takeaways in Saturday night’s doubleheader at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
1. DEJA VU FOR GINEBRA, MERALCO
Brownlee hitting the game-winning three pointer over rival Allen Durham brought everybody back to the 2016 Governors’ Cup finals.
Same venue at the Big Dome but on the opposite side of the court, the beloved Ginebra import nailed a clutch three over Durham right at the buzzer of Game 6 to win the series and end the Kings’ long, eight-year title drought.
This time it’s the quarterfinals, but JB was there again to haunt Durham and the Meralco Bolts and give Ginebra a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.
READ: Brownlee outguns Durham again as Ginebra takes 2-0 lead vs. Meralco
2.GINEBRA BRINGS OUT THE BEST IN DURHAM
The three-time Best Import winner played his best game of the conference against the Kings as he finished with a tournament-high 39 points as he matched up basket by basket against Brownlee, who also finished with the same scoring output.
Durham also added 14 rebounds and three assists, while scoring 16 big points in the final quarter to lead Meralco’s late charge. Too bad, Brownlee was there again to spoil the night for Durham.
3.POOR FREE THROW SHOOTING HURTS MERALCO
The glaring discrepancy in the Meralco loss was the Bolts’ glaring shooting from the foul line. The Bolts shot 50 percent of their free throws on 15-of-30 shooting, considering they lost the game by just a single point, this one will haunt them.
Durham was 5-of-8, Cliff Hodge 1-of-4, Bong Quinto 4-of-8, and team captain Chris Newsome 3-of-7 including two consecutive missed free throws late in the game that could have really spelled the difference in the classic encounter.
4.CAN EJ ANOSIKE PULL OFF A BENNIE BOATWRIGHT?
The new San Miguel import has so far gone 2-0 with the team as a replacement for the injured Jordan Adams. The 25-year-old Anosike is so far averaging 34.5 points and 10 rebounds for the Beermen, including a 41-point explosion in the Game 2 win. Anosike is the third import of SMB this conference after Adams and Sheldon Mac.
Incidentally, Boatwright also served as the Beermen’s third import in last year’s Commissioner’s Cup after Ivan Aska and Tyler Stone. Of course, Boatwright later led the franchise to the championship by beating Tyler Bay and Magnolia in the finals.
Will the ‘third time is a charm’ scheme work again for San Miguel?
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