San Miguel overcame a string of bad luck from the free throw line to beat Ginebra, 92-90, and take Game 1 of their PBA Season 48 Commissioner’s Cup semifinal affair, Wednesday night at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The Beermen missed crucial shots from the stripe that could’ve put the game out of reach inside the last 23.7 seconds, but the Barangay’s failure to capitalize on the opportunities presented to them allowed the former to escape.
“We were just composed,” offered SMB head coach Jorge Gallent postgame. “We were composed … I give all the credit to my players.”
CJ Perez led San Miguel with 26 points, including nine in the fourth quarter that saw them erase a six-point deficit and establish a 95-90 lead with 2:39 to go before having to survive a late-game attack by the reigning champions.
Bennie Boatwright finished with 23 points on 23 attempts and 10 rebounds, while June Mar Fajardo added 18 points and nine boards in the win.
It was the reigning seven-time MVP that sank the marginal free throws in two separate trips to the line inside the final 23.7 but both of which were splits.
It didn’t help as well that Chris Ross went 0-for-2 with 11.1 seconds to go, the first of which he airballed due to an apparent right triceps injury.
But luckily for the Beermen, the crowd darlings couldn’t convert on the other end, with Christian Standhardinger missing the potential go-ahead jumper with 13 seconds left — a miss Ross eventually collared before those misses.
The Kings still had one more chance but Scottie Thompson and Standhardinger couldn’t connect on a pass. The ball went to Ross and then dished it out to Boatwright, who dribbled it out to secure the dramatic win.
As the final buzzer sounded, SMB finally secured its first win against Ginebra in a playoff series after being swept 0-3 in the 2023 Governors’ Cup semis.
“Na-sweep kami. Pinaghandaan namin, nag-move forward kami. ‘Di na namin iniisip ‘yung last season. It’s a new journey for us,” said Perez.
Now, the Beermen will look to go up 2-0 in the best-of-5 series in Game 2 on Friday, January 26, 4 p.m. at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
Standhardinger, on the other hand, made 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead Ginebra. Tony Bishop tallied 20 points and 11 rebounds as well.
The frontcourt tandem was responsible for wiping out the five-point San Miguel lead to tie the game up at 90-all with exactly a minute left to play but that proved to be their last hurrah as the Kings just couldn’t go ahead.
Thompson flirted with a triple-double as he finished with 15 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists. Jamie Malonzo added 13 in the loss.
The Scores:
San Miguel 92 – Perez 26, Boatwright 23, Fajardo 18, Trollano 10, Lassiter 7, Cruz 6, Teng 2, Ross 0, Enciso 0, Tautuaa 0.
Ginebra 90 – Standhardinger 21, Bishop 20, Thompson 15, Malonzo 13, Pringle 9, Ahanmisi 6, J.Aguilar 6, Tenorio 0, Pessumal 0.
Quarterscores: 28-20, 47-47, 73-73, 92-90.
