Gin Kings rout Beermen to inch closer to finals

ANTIPOLO — With locals leading the way, Barangay Ginebra kept its hold on the odd-numbered matches five games through this back-and-forth PBA Governors’ Cup semifinal showdown with San Miguel Beer.

And with their 121-92 romp in Friday night’s tiebreaker in front of a packed crowd at the Ynares Center, the Gin Kings regained control at 3-2, with a chance to close it out two nights from now.

Unlike in their 121-131 Game 4 loss where Justin Brownlee carried the brunt of scoring with 49, the Ginebra homegrowns led by RJ Abarrientos and Scottie Thompson brought loaded guns to help out JB.

Rookie Abarrientos fired a career-high 28 points, making nine of them in a telling 29-17 second-quarter barrage that broke the match open in favor of the crowd darlings, 63-50.

By the third, the Gin Kings had a 92-77 tear and not easing on the pedal, they widened it further to 31 at 121-90 before settling for a 29-point winning margin.

But it was Thompson (22 points) who actually started the fire after the Gin Kings initially faced a 20-33 disadvantage in the opening frame.

With a booming triple, a transition basket and putback, Thompson spearheaded a 14-0 closing barrage in the last 2:44 of Quarter 1 that allowed Ginebra to erase SMB’s 13-point lead, wrest a 34-33 upperhand, and gain momentum. Thompson dropped 18 in the first canto alone — a new career high for him in one quarter.

While the local stalwarts took the cudgels, naturalized Filipino Brownlee shot 18 but added nine rebounds and seven assists.

“They (Beermen) came out with guns blazing in the beginning of the game. It’s like Game 4 all over again — they just came out firing and there was a lot of worry in the timeouts,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.

“I thought RJ and Joe (DeVance) came out in that first quarter and kind of settled us down, hit some shots. Scottie did a great job at keeping us in the game early. Then we were able to settle ourselves down and get it turned  around. And we got a lot of contributions from everybody; it wasn’t just all-Justin tonight.”

Cone also lauded DeVance and Japeth Aguilar for their defensive work versus SMB’s lethal frontline of June Mar Fajardo and EJ Anosike.

Anosike posted 21 while Fajardo produced 17-16 for the Beermen, who would look to continue dominating the even-numbered matches in Game 6 to force Ginebra to a sudden death for a finals ticket.

The scores:

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.

Quarterscores: 34-33, 63-50, 92-79, 121-92.