MANILA – Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings overcame a flat start to dominate San Miguel Beermen, 121-92 in Game 5 of the PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals last night at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
Rhon Jhay Abarrientos tallied a career-high of 28 points to go with four assists and three rebounds as the Gin Kings took a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Down 20-30 midway through the opening quarter, the Gin Kings went on a 14-3 scoring run behind Earl Scottie Thompson and Justin Brownlee to take a 34-33 advantage.
The Gin Kings continued their run in the second period courtesy of baskets from Abarrientos, Japeth Aguilar, and Maverick Ahanmisi as they took a 63-50 halftime lead.
The Beermen started strong in the third quarter as they cut the deficit to 73-78 but the Gin Kings restored order behind Brownlee and Thompson to stretch the lead to 92-79.
The Gin Kings opened the fourth period with nine straight points from Abarrientos, Brownlee, and Ralph Cu en route to a 121-90 advantage with under a minute left.
“They (Beermen) just came out with guns ablazing in the first quarter, but when RJ and Joe (Devance) came in we kinda settled down a bit, also credit to Scottie and Justin for keeping the match close,” said Gin Kings head coach Tim Cone.
“We are just too eager to start the match and we were able to turn things around and we got a lot of contributions from everyone else. It is not just Justin,” he added.
The Gin Kings can secure a return trip to the best-of-seven finals in Game 6 on Sunday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum./PN
BOX SCORE:
GINEBRA 121 – Abarrientos 28, Thompson 22, Brownlee 18, J.Aguilar 15, Ahanmisi 13, Holt 9, Cu 4, Pinto 3, Adamos 2, Devance 2, Pessumal 2, R.Aguilar 2, Mariano 1.
SAN MIGUEL 92 – Anosike 21, Fajardo 17, Perez 16, Lassiter 16, Trollano 7, Ross 4, Enciso 4, Cruz 3, Brondial 2, Romeo 2, Nava 0, Tautuaa 0, Rosales 0.
QUARTERS : 34-33, 63-50, 92-79, 121-92
