Ginebra stole Game 1 away from San Miguel by way of a 73-71 decision following a massive comeback to open their PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup semifinal series, Wednesday night at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
Stephen Holt and Troy Rosario came through with the biggest of shots inside the final 2:02 as the Kings overturned a deficit as big as 18 points on the way to capturing the early lead in what should be a thrilling best-of-7 affair ahead.
“We found a way,” said Coach Tim Cone. “But it’s only one game. We gotta be playing better than this as the series goes, for us to have a chance.”
(C) PBA Images
Last season’s Rookie of the Year hit a booming trey to erase a 69-67 Beermen lead. Then the veteran bruiser sank both of his free throws to negate CJ Perez’s finger-roll to give themselves the lead for good, 72-71, with 1:20 left.
The crowd darlings then leaned on defense to prevent SMB from answering back. Japeth Aguilar denied June Mar Fajardo near the rim, before Jamie Malonzo secured the loose ball to get the possession back to Ginebra.
He unfortunately missed his free throws that could’ve iced the game, but Lady Luck sided in their favor. Perez was caught with the last touch on the ball.
Holt then went on to secure the triumph from the line with two seconds to spare, making his first before intentionally missing the second to run the clock out.
“Japeth did a good job of challenging the shot, and luckily for us, it rolled out. We were able to secure the rebound. Jamie missed his free throws, and then Troy made that great hustle play to knock the ball off CJ,” Cone said.
Aguilar top-scored for Ginebra with 18 points and nine rebounds. Scottie Thompson also flirted with a double-double with 16 points and eight rebounds.
Malonzo supplied 14 points while Rosario, Holt, and Raymond Aguilar all added at least four points. Holt himself made just one field goal the entire night — the aforementioned triple — while adding seven rebounds.
The team also had some special guests, as Gilas Pilipinas Boys showed up in force to support their coach’s team.
(C) PBA Images
More than the offense, though, the defense did the trick for the Barangay as they held the usually-potent San Miguel to its season-low output.
Yet the biggest concern right now for the Beermen won’t be that fact nor the Xs and Os for Game 2 on Friday, but Fajardo and his right calf.
The eight-time MVP got hurt at the 8:38-mark of the fourth quarter shortly after trying to clean up his own miss from point-blank and had to be subbed out shortly after. But he did manage to return late in the game.
Fajardo only had six points although he hauled down 19 rebounds, but the idea of bouncing back may have to take a backseat for now. He and the rest of the squad face a nervous wait for his scans on Thursday to check his calf.
Perez top-scored for SMB with 21 points in the loss. Juami Tiongson and Jericho Cruz were his only support with 12 points apiece.
The Scores:
Ginebra 73 – J. Aguilar 18, Thompson 16, Malonzo 14, Rosario 7, R. Aguilar 6, Holt 4, Abarrientos 2, Pinto 2, Gray 2, Adamos 2, Ahanmisi 0, David 0.
San Miguel 71 – Perez 21, Tiongson 12, Cruz 12, Trollano 9, Fajardo 6, Ross 5, Lassiter 3, Cahilig 3, Brondial 0, Tautuaa 0, Calma 0.
Quarterscores: 19-29, 37-45, 56-60, 73-71.
