Stephen Holt is no stranger to authoring clutch moments, but what he had just written on Sunday night should go down as one of his most memorable.
The former No. 1 overall pick penned an ending so sweet to yet another NSD comeback as his buzzer-beating trey enabled Ginebra to complete its ouster of the twice-to-beat Converge in the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup quarterfinals.
“That’s probably one of the biggest shots of my career,” Holt, who played in the G League, NBL, and numerous leagues in Europe, offered moments after their thrilling 99-98 victory at a packed SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Holt has already pulled off a heroic act in the PBA before, particularly during his time with Terrafirma in the Season 48 Philippine Cup back in April of 2024.
There, he hit the go-ahead layup with 3.1 seconds remaining to tow the Dyip to a 110-108 squeaker against NorthPort for their fifth win of the conference, which eventually helped the franchise reach the final eight after eight years.
Special was that shot, too, no doubt, but that may have been superseded by his booming trifecta as it also helped write history for the crowd darlings.
PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon III said that Ginebra has now overcome a twice-to-win disadvantage in the playoffs for the sixth time, and 20th overall by any team–no other team has done it more than thrice.
For Holt, the three-ball was also his tribute to the entire crew for helping him keep his head up, even though he was struggling to find the bottom of the net.
(C) PBA Images
“It’s pretty clear that I was struggling on both ends of the floor. But again, I just love my guys, man, they continue to give me confidence, and when I had my moment, I knew I had to step up,” the 34-year-old said.
“The play was designed obviously for RJ. We wanted to get him a good look, but it didn’t work out. Second option was me trying to come off a pick-and-roll, and I just wanted to execute whatever the game presented to me.”
Thanks to the Kings, Holt may have just etched his name into Ginebra lore after knocking down the shot from a spot so familiar among their faithful.
But really, he’s prouder of the fight they showed as a group, considering the adversities that came their way, specifically when they lost stars Scottie Thompson and Japeth Aguilar as the two fouled out of the match.
“I felt like we deserve this, man. It was so much harder with people fouling out going into overtime, and players were playing extended minutes,” the 11-year pro said.
“That’s the true NSD spirit. I love all of my guys.”
Holt couldn’t be any happier also with how the Barangay as a collective managed to turn things around this conference after a rare 2-4 start.
“We always preach that the eliminations are always a preparation for the playoffs. I feel like amongst the group we definitely had to earn this series against Converge, they’re a great team,” said the former Rookie of the Year.
“But again, I felt like within our locker room, we have a lot of confidence within the group, we’re finally playing the best basketball, I feel like, of this season,” he added.
“Even though some games were close, sometimes it’s ugly, I think you guys have seen in the last three, four games that we don’t quit, and I think that’s the most important thing about this group.”
#WATCH: WE GOT LUCKY 🏀
Tim Cone was all praises, not just for his Ginebra players, but also Converge for the epic they delivered on Sunday#ReadMore 👉 https://t.co/vRel0ijase
📹 @justinebacnis /Tiebreaker Times#PBA50 pic.twitter.com/iL25xSezpx
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) December 28, 2025
