By Jay R. Gotera
Saudi Gazette
MANILA — The Barangay Ginebra Kings poured a whopping 69 points in the last two quarters to score an emphatic 115-108 victory over the San Miguel Beermen in Game 1 of their best-of-five semifinal series Monday night.
Down by 13 points late in the second quarter, the Kings came roaring after the halftime break to grab the lead and pull away in the end.
Import Justin Brownlee erupted for 39 points and 16 big rebounds to lead the Kings. Japeth Aguilar added 22 points, seven rebounds and three blocks while Sol Mercado scored 19 points, including three three-pointers, off the bench.
Joe Devance added 12 while rookie Scottie Thompson chipped in with 11 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.
Ginebra won despite missing the services of injured star center Greg Slaughter and a totally off night for LA Tenorio, the Kings’ quarterfinals hero who sizzled for 32 points in the win over Alaska. On Monday, Tenorio missed all nine of his shots to go scoreless in more than 31 minutes of play.
Game Two is set for Wednesday night.
The Ginebra win negated the all-around brilliance of SMB import Elijah Millsap, who finished with a triple-double of 29 points, 14 boards, and 11 assists.
Two-time Most Valuable Player (MVP) June Mar Fajardo, who is again the leading MVP candidate this season, added 25 points and 15 boards for SMB.
Alex Cabagnot chipped in with 20 points, five assists and four rebounds while Arwind Santos and Marcio Lassiter had 15 and 14, respectively.
The Beermen came out like a house in the opening period, leading by 12, 36-24, at the end of the first quarter. They sustained their fiery shooting in the second period, which they took, 57-46.
Brownlee and Aguilar then exploded in the third quarter, scoring Ginebra’s first 18 points of the period, including all the points in a 9-0 blast, to cut SMB’s lead to a whisker, 65-64.
Devance, Mercado and Aljon Mariano then joined the shooting party as the Kings pulled ahead, 77-72, after a 13-2 run.
It was Mark Caguioa’s turn to shine in the final quarter as the veteran Ginebra guard scored six straight points.
The Beermen rallied, coming to within three, 105-102, with four minutes left in the game.
But Mercado banged in a three-pointer and Brownlee made a huge three-point play to give the Kings a nine-point lead, 111-102, with 1:21 remaining, sealing the win.
Philippines-Mighty Sports suffers heartbreaker
Former US collegiate star Jimmer Fredette buried three free throws with no time left in the clock as China’s Shanghai Sharks handed the Philippines-Mighty Sports a heartbreaking 78-77 loss in the finals of the 2016 Merlion Cup Friday at OCBC Arena in Singapore.
Fredette topscored with 41 points, 13 of them in the fourth quarter, to lead the Sharks’ fightback from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter.
With about eight seconds left and the Sharks down by two, Fredette was fouled while taking a three-point shot just as the final buzzer sounded.
The Sharks top gunner then calmly hit all three of his free throws for the win.
Al Thornton led Mighty Sports with 36 markers.
Perlas Pilipinas wins SEABA women’s tourney
The Philippine national women’s basketball team completed a sweep of the 2016 SEABA Women’s Championship, beating Thailand, 72-52, to cap their gold medal run Sunday in Malacca, Malaysia.
Perlas Pilipinas wrapped up the tournament with a perfect 6-0 record.
PBA Game Tuesday: TNT KaTropa vs. Meralco Bolts (Best-of-5 semifinals).
