New faces came through in crunch time as Barangay Ginebra San Miguel outlasted New Taipei, 91-87, in the Macao WUS International Club Basketball Challenge at the Tap Seac Multi-sports Pavilion, Wednesday night.
RJ Abarrientos fired 20 points, while Stephen Holt produced 19.
The backcourt duo, together with Paul Garcia, delivered the biggest of blows in the final 2:52 to make sure that the PBA side would escape after blowing a big lead early.
Holt nailed the go-ahead bucket and then found Abarrientos for a long triple to beat the shot clock, which pushed their lead to 88-84 with 2:10 remaining.
Garcia stepped up to the plate moments later, converting a bucket off a foul as a response to the opposition’s trey to make it a 90-87 edge for the Kings.
The defending P.League+ champions tried to tie things, but missed what could’ve been a huge triple with 14.2 seconds left.
Holt was then there to secure the board before being fouled by Kiwi Gardner to stop the clock.
Holt would go on to virtually seal the deal by splitting his charities to make it a two-possession lead, eventually settling the final score.
Japeth Aguilar finished with 23 points to top-score for Ginebra, who played without stars Scottie Thompson and Justin Brownlee in the friendly match although the former PBA MVP joined the team in Macau.
Brownlee, on the other hand, is still in Indonesia as his Pelita Jaya is preparing for the 2024 Indonesia Basketball League Finals.
The exhibition serves as part of the Barangay’s preparations for the upcoming PBA Season 49, which opens in August with the Governors’ Cup.
Chen Chun-nan, meanwhile, led New Taipei with 22 points but got fouled out still with 1:48 to spare after being whistled for a charge.
