Barangay Ginebra recovered from a sloppy start and put on a masterful performance to claim the Game 5 win against the San Miguel Beermen in the PBA Season 49 Governors' Cup semifinals.
After getting into early trouble, Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone was worried the Gin Kings were doomed to fail anew in Game 5 of the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup semifinal on Friday, October 18.
Behind usual suspects June Mar Fajardo, EJ Anosike, CJ Perez, and Marcio Lassiter, the Beermen raced off to a scintillating start that saw them lead by as many as 13 points.
Moments from the disappointing Game 4 loss consequently flashed before Cone’s eyes.
“They came out with guns ablaze in the beginning. It’s like Game 4 all over again. They just came out firing,” said Cone, whose team did not have an answer to San Miguel’s offensive onslaught in Game 4.
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Fortunately for Cone, the Gin Kings refused to fold this time and hacked out a 121-92 win. They move a win away from the finals against the idle TNT Tropang Giga.
Scottie Thompson dropped 18 points in the opening salvo, while RJ Abarrientos and Joe Devance helped steady the ship to take a 34-33 lead entering the second period.
The Gin Kings put on a masterful performance since then, beginning with a strong second period to create a 63-50 cushion at intermission, before blowing out the mighty Beermen.
Abarrientos ended up contributing career-high 28 points for Ginenbra.
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“
There’s a lot of worry in the timeout but we kinda got settled. I thought RJ and Joe came out and settled us down. Scottie did a great job of keeping us in the game early,” Cone added.
But a tougher test awaits Ginebra as it looks to close out what has shaped up to be a highly-charged series in Game 6.
But when the chips are down, expect the Beermen to deliver the biggest blows when the two teams meet on the court again on Sunday, October 20 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Ginebra will be ready.
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