Ginebra weathered Rain or Shine’s late-game storm and escaped with the narrow 107-101 victory to even things out in the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup semifinals, Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
The Kings were already holding a comfortable 101-84 lead with 4:55 remaining, but the Elasto Painters finally got the rhythm they’ve been trying to generate since falling flat during the opening period, behind another collective effort.
Gian Mamuyac provided the spark, Jhonard Clarito caught fire and scored six straight, before Jaylen Johnson buried a three to conclude a 13-0 spree that chopped the gap to a single possession, 101-97, with 1:37 to spare.
Adrian Nocum had the chance to cut it further, but Justin Brownlee got him checked underneath the rim, and Scottie Thompson would go on to give them extra space to breathe by going perfect from the free-throw line.
(C) PBA Images
Clarito cut the spread to four once more, but they could no longer put together one good run, with Troy Rosario and RJ Abarrientos providing the finishing touches in the final 23.3 seconds on the way to taking Game 2.
Abarrientos did manage to return to the game after suffering a painful nasal injury off an inadvertent elbow from a shooting Clarito with 5:44 to go, causing him to leave the match momentarily as his blood streamed from his nose.
“I thought the game turned after a blocking call whistled on RJ Abarrientos. It should have been a charging foul on Jhonard Clarito. We got the short end of the call. We lost RJ for a few minutes, and it hurt us,” Coach Tim Cone said.
Still, the lead they built early proved to be enough to ward off the opposition, leading to a solid bounce-back from their collapse in Game 1 two nights ago.
Brownlee led Ginebra with 31 points, 15 rebounds, and eight assists, plus a steal and a block. Abarrientos delivered 15 points as they led the strong first-quarter surge in which the crew erased a RoS lead to stay ahead for good.
The crowd darlings trailed by five until the duo led a blistering 21-1 run–capped by a Jeremih Gray trey–toward a 31-16 lead with a minute left in the period.
Thompson, for his part, made 15 points, six rebounds, and six assists. Japeth Aguilar supplied 14 points and 12 rebounds for his best game since coming back, while Rosario added 11 markers to lead the bench support.
(C) PBA Images
Game 3 is on Sunday, with the traditional contenders hoping to avoid falling into the trap of playing the same up-tempo game as their rivals.
“We just gotta be smart on how we handle that,” said Cone as he conceded that their foes still have the edge in the series as far as pace is concerned.
Nocum top-scored for Rain or Shine with 20 points. Johnson finished with 19 points, 15 rebounds, and seven assists as he bucked a slow start after being targeted on defense, which was inevitable after dropping 40 and 19 last time.
Mamuyac tallied 18 points for a team that played without Luis Villegas, who’s out indefinitely due to the hamstring injury he sustained in Game 1.
The Scores:
Ginebra 109 – Brownlee 31, Abarrientos 25, Thompson 15, J. Aguilar 14, Rosario 11, Gray 5, Holt 3, Pinto 3, Cu 2.
Rain or Shine 101 – Nocum 20, Clarito 19, Johnson 19, Mamuyac 18, Malonzo 8, Asistio 4, Santillan 4, Manaytay 4, Cuajao 3, David 2, Caracut 0
Quarterscores: 30-20, 62-40, 88-69, 109-101.
