MANILA – June Mar Fajardo drilled marginal free throws as San Miguel Beermen escaped with a 92-90 win over Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings in Game 1 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
With the score tied at 90-all, Fajardo drew a foul from Gin Kings center Christian Standhardinger with 31 seconds left, where he split his free throws to give the Beermen a 91-90 lead.
After a missed attempt by Standhardinger, the Gin Kings fouled Beermen’s Chris Ross but he missed his two freebies. Fajardo grabbed the rebound and drew a foul, where he once again split his free throws for a 92-90 count.
With nine seconds remaining in the regulation, the Gin Kings still had a chance to win the game but Earl Scottie Thompson and a miscommunication with Standhardinger, which led to a turnover as the final buzzer sounded.
Jaymar Perez top-scored with 26 points, Bennie Boatwright Jr. added a double-double of 23 points and 12 rebounds, while Fajardo and Celedonio Trollano finished with 18 and 10, respectively, as the Beermen took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five semis series.
The Beermen jumped to a 28-20 lead in the opening quarter behind conversions by Perez and Boatwright, but the Gin Kings slowly clawed their way back to force a 47-all score at the half.
The Gin Kings went on to take a 54-51 lead early in the third but the Beermen answered with their own run to establish a 67-62 edge on back-to-back inside conversions from Fajardo.
Barangay Ginebra then answered with inside baskets from Standhardinger to tie the count at 73-all entering the fourth quarter and later took a 79-73 edge on connections by Earl Scottie Thompson and Japeth Aguilar.
The Beermen countered with a run from Perez, Boatwright and Fajardo to seize a 90-85 edge with two minutes left, but the Gin Kings got a three-point play from Standhardinger and a basket from Tony Bishop Jr. to tie the count for the last time at 90-all.
Standhardinger finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, Bishop added 20 points and 10 boards, while Thompson and Jamie Malonzo contributed 15 and 13, respectively, for the defending champions Gin Kings./PN
BOX SCORE:
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 11, Pringle 9, Ahanmisi 6, J. Aguilar 6, Tenorio 0, Pessumal 0.
Quarterscores: 28-20, 47-47, 73-73, 92-90.
