PBA: San Miguel averts collapse vs. Ginebra to preserve unbeaten run

San Miguel nearly squandered a huge lead, but held on just enough to fend off a gutsy fight from Barangay Ginebra, 95-92, in the PBA Philippine Cup on Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Beermen led by as much as 18 points but needed to shrug off a huge fourth quarter fightback from the Gin Kings to preserve their unbeaten slate at 4-0. Ginebra, meanwhile, dropped to 3-2. 

Ginebra’s ‘Never Say Die’ spirit was on full display in the payoff period with veterans LA Tenorio and Japeth Aguilar showing the way, powering a massive 11-0 rampage to cut the deficit to seven, 77-84, as they took advantage of a foul troubled June Mar Fajardo. 

It was also Tenorio’s triple halfway through that further trimmed the deficit to four, 84-88, before Don Trollano responded with a long bomb of his own to give San Miguel a crucial 93-86 cushion. 

Maverick Ahanmisi then buried a triple to make it a one possession ballgame at 91-93 with 1:09 left, but the Filipino-Nigerian guard split his charities in the final 3.9 seconds that allowed San Miguel to complete the victory. 

CJ Perez paced San Miguel with a double-double of 18 points and 10 assists alongside four rebounds and four steals while Trollano finished with 15 markers and eight boards. Fajardo, who already had four fouls at halftime, still asserted his dominance with 14 points, 10 rebounds, and one assist. 

All Ginebra starters finished in double digits with Aguilar churning out 17 points while Ahanmisi tallied 16.Stanley Pringle had 15 while Jamie Malonzo and Christian Standhardinger each poured in 14. 

Scores:

San Miguel 95 – Perez 18, Trollano 15, Fajardo 14, Tautuaa 12, Romeo 11, Brondial 8, Cruz 8, Lassiter 6, Ross 3, Manuel 0, Enciso 0.

Ginebra 92 – J.Aguilar 17, Ahanmisi 16, Pringle 15, Malonzo 14, Standhardinger 14, Tenorio 8, Onwubere 8, David 0, Gumaru 0, Cu 0, Pinto 0.

Quarters: 33-18, 56-50, 82-66, 95-92.

—Bea Micaller/JKC, GMA Integrated News