 |
| PBA |
By Ivan Saldajeno
PASAY--San Miguel bounced back from endgame disasters before trouncing Ginebra in double overtime, 111-105, to cap a historic PBA Governors' Cup doubleheader at the Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday night.
Almost three hours after the GlobalPort Batang Pier won their own double OT epic against the Meralco Bolts, the Beermen withstood late pushes by the Gin Kings to stay in step with the TNT KaTropa in the race to the top.
San Miguel led, 71-47, in the third quarter, but Ginebra slowly crawled back and eventually forced the first overtime, 89-all.
The Beermen threatened to pull away again in the first extra session, opening it with a 9-0 run for a 98-89 lead with 2:47 remaining.
But the Gin Kings found their range just in time, as LA Tenorio and Sol Mercado dropped threes each to cut the lead to three, 98-95, with 1:07 left in the first OT.
AZ Reid scored a follow-up basket to stretch the lead to five, 100-95, with 20.7 seconds to go in the first OT.
But Justin Brownlee buried a three-pointer from even beyond the NBA line to trim the gap to just two with 17.9 seconds remaining.
Ginebra then found an opening after Ronald Tubid only made one of two free throws off a Brownlee foul with 9.4 seconds remaining, and Japeth Aguilar took advantage of it by nailing a three-pointer with 2.1 seconds left to eventually send the game into a second overtime.
The Gin Kings finally lost steam, as the Beermen limited them to only four points in the final period to clinch the win.
Reid finished with 26 points, 16 rebounds, five assists, and one steal for San Miguel, which moved to a tie for second place at 4-1, a full game behind TNT.
Arwind Santos had nine points, five rebounds, one assist, one block, and one steal in his return but got fouled out after just 18-and-a-half minutes.
Brownlee tallied 38 points, 22 rebounds, five assists, two blocks, and one steal for Ginebra, which saw their three-game winning streak snapped.
Box Scores:
Box Scores:
San Miguel 111-Reid 26, Fajardo 17, Lassiter 17, Cabagnot 16, Tubid 14, Santos 9, Ross 6, David 6, Arana 0, Heruela 0, Reyes 0
Ginebra 105-Brownlee 38, Tenorio 17, Devance 16, Aguilar 13, Mercado 9, Ellis 8, Caguioa 4, Helterbrand 0, Cruz 0, Mariano 0, Thompson 0
Quarterscores: 28-14, 51-36, 78-68, 89-89, 101-101, 111-105
Follow him on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno
Ginebra 105-Brownlee 38, Tenorio 17, Devance 16, Aguilar 13, Mercado 9, Ellis 8, Caguioa 4, Helterbrand 0, Cruz 0, Mariano 0, Thompson 0
Quarterscores: 28-14, 51-36, 78-68, 89-89, 101-101, 111-105
Follow him on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno
.jpg)
