Ginebra’s rally against San Miguel falls short in double OT

MANILA, Philippines – Barangay Ginebra rallied from a 24-point deficit in the third quarter and forced two overtimes but eventually ran out of gas in its close defeat to the San Miguel Beermen, 111-105, on Sunday, August 14, at the Mall of Asia Arena. 

Entering the match on a 3-game winning streak, the loss dropped Ginebra’s record in the Governors’ Cup to 4-2. The Beermen, meanwhile, won its second straight and moved up to 4-1.

June Mar Fajardo was named the best player of the game after posting 17 points and 17 rebounds. Import AZ Reid also played well with 26 points, 16 boards, and 5 assists. 

Ginebra was led by the 38 points and 22 rebounds of import Justin Brownlee. Japeth Aguilar, who hit the tying 3 to force a second overtime, finished with 13 points, 7 boards, and 4 blocks. Joe Devance had 16 points and 5 assists off the bench, but limped out of the game in the second OT.

San Miguel looked like it had the game in the bag with 2:11 left in the first overtime, 98-89. Ginebra’s rally started when LA Tenorio hit a 3-pointer to cut it to 6. After Ronald Tubid missed on a 3-ball, Sol Mercado hit his own 3-pointer to make it a 3-point game with 1:07 left. 

A 3 pointer by Brownlee with 17 seconds remaining trimmed the Beermen’s lead to 100-98. Tubid was then sent to the foul line, where he split his free throws. With 3 seconds left, Aguilar hit an open 3-ball, forcing another extension.

In the second OT, Marcio Lassiter and Reid went on a 6-0 run to give their team a 109-103 lead. A clearly tired Ginebra squad then kept misfiring, eventually leading the the defeat.

Scores:

San Miguel (111): Reid 26, Fajardo 17, Lassiter 17, Cabagnot 16, Tubid 14, Santos 9, Ross 6, David 6, Arana 0, Heruela 0, Reyes 0

Ginebra (105): Brownlee 38, Tenorio 17, Devance 16, Aguilar 13, Mercado 9, Ellis 8, Caguioa 4, Helterbrand 0, Cruz 0, Mariano 0, Thompson 0

Quarter Scores: 28-14, 51-36, 78-68, 89-89, 101-101 111-105 – Rappler.com