SAN Miguel used a huge third-quarter binge to defeat Barangay Ginebra in Game Four, 107-82, on Wednesday and even their PBA 49th Season Philippine Cup semifinal series at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Beermen went on a 17-0 blast in that decisive third-quarter led by Cjay Perez to seize the lead for good, turning a 58-56 deficit into a 73-58 lead which the Gin Kings never came close to overcoming.
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Game 5 of the best-of-seven semifinal series is slated on Friday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Perez led San Miguel with 19 points including six in the third quarter where the Beermen outscored the Gin Kings, 30-12.
The game also saw June Mar Fajardo start for the first time since he sustained a right calf injury in Game 1. He finished with 12 points and 19 rebounds in 31 minutes and 33 seconds of action.
The Beermen also regained their three-point shooting, going 14-of-28 (50 percent) from that distance after a woeful 3-of-28 (11 percent) in Game 3.
The game was so lopsided that Ginebra decided to pull out its starters at the start of the fourth quarter.
“It’s very obvious that the energy of the team is really high. We were able to match their energy. A lot our perimeter shots went in,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria.
Juami Tiongson also had 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting from threes, while Jericho Cruz and Rodney Brondial had 12 points each for the Beermen.
Troy Rosario added 14 points and seven rebounds for Ginebra, which trailed by as many as 27 points in the contest despite being up, 51-50, at the half. The Gin Kings have now lost by an average margin of 22 points in their two defeats.
The scores:
San Miguel 107 – Perez 19, Tiongson 14, Fajardo 12, Cruz 12, Brondial 12, Trollano 11, Teng 9, Lassiter 6, Ross 5, Rosales 3, Tautuaa 2, Calma 2, Cahilig 0.
Barangay Ginebra 82 – Rosario 14, Malonzo 12, Thompson 11, J. Aguilar 10, Abarrientos 9, Ahanmisi 7, Holt 5, Pinto 4, Tenorio 4, R. Aguilar 4, Gray 2, Cu 0, David 0.
Quarters: 24-26; 50-51; 80-63; 107-82.
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