Ginebra leaned on its bench guys to turn back San Miguel, 99-90, to gain the head start in their PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup best-of-7 semifinals before a solid crowd at the SMART Araneta Coliseum on Sunday night.
Ralph Cu and Norbert Torres came alive most especially in the fourth quarter, connecting for four triples in a row for the 84-81 lead with 6:51 to go as the momentum swung in their favor thanks to the frontcourt tandem.
RJ Abarrientos and the regulars would go on to put together a strong finish en route to frustrating the Beermen by ending their 10-game winning streak.
Last season’s Rookie of the Year top-scored with 23 points alongside four rebounds and seven assists, while Cu and Torres combined for 21 as the two bigs combined for half of the crowd darlings’ 12 made shots from three.
(C) PBA Images
The troika plus Jayson David and his 10 markers produced 54 bench points together as they all responded to the challenge of Coach Tim Cone.
“We’re very aware that they’re (San Miguel) the No. 1 team in bench points, and we challenged our guys to come out and play,” said the champion mentor.
“The guys did a good job keeping the energy high,” added Cone whose bench mob outplayed their counterparts as the latter’s reserves only had 29.
Indeed, receiving that limited support was a big reason why June Mar Fajardo witnessed his 20-20 performance go down the drain.
(C) PBA Images
The league’s only nine-time MVP finished with game-highs of 27 points and 23 rebounds, which he laced with three assists, a steal, and a block.
“We’ve got to battle for this one. We’re happy to pull this one out despite June Mar having a big game,” said Cone, who also leaned on Torres and his other bigs in trying to slow down Fajardo, which actually worked during the fourth.
Scottie Thompson supplied 22 points, five rebounds, and four assists as he and the usual suspects, such as Troy Rosario, Japeth Aguilar, and Stephen Holt, also did their part in helping Ginebra capture the 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven affair.
Meanwhile, CJ Perez and Marcio Lassiter tallied 18 and 12 points, respectively, for the reigning champions, who went 5-of-25 from the first arc.
Game 2 is set this Wednesday at 5:15 p.m., also at the Big Dome, serving as the opening game before Meralco and TNT duke it out at 7:30 p.m.
The Scores:
Ginebra 99 – Abarrientos 23, Thompson 22, Cu 13, David 10, Torres 8, Rosario 8, J. Aguilar 7, Holt 6, Gray 2, Estil 0, Pinto 0.
San Miguel 90 – Fajardo 27, Perez 18, Lassiter 12, Tiongson 8, Trollano 5, Calma 4, Cruz 4, Cahilig 3, Tautuaa 3, Ross 2, Brondial 2, Rosales 2
Quarterscores: 26-18, 48-46, 72-73, 99-90
Barangay Ginebra leaned on its bench, led by Ralph Cu and Norbert Torres, to beat San Miguel and take a 1-0 lead in the #PBA50 Philippine Cup semifinals#ReadMore 👉 https://t.co/K3F0bu8RAt
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— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) January 4, 2026
