MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – The San Miguel Beermen overcame a 15-point deficit and eked out a 104-102 overtime win over Barangay Ginebra to go up 2-0 in their best-of-7 semifinals series in the 2018 PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, March 11.

San Miguel trailed by 9 points midway through the 4th quarter, 82-91, before riding on a 13-4 run, highlighted by a clutch Arwind Santos triple with 13.4 seconds remaining, to send the bout into an extra period.

Ginebra had the upper hand in overtime, 102-92, following a Joe Devance trey with 1:01 minutes left. But the Beermen knotted the score at 102-all thanks to back-to-back Marcio Lassiter buckets. 

In the next possession, Devance committed a costly turnover after a 5-second inbound violation, paving the way for Lassiter to provide the game-winning bucket with a putback off a June Mar Fajardo miss with only 3.2 ticks left. 

Ginebra, without a timeout, had to race the whole length of the court to get a good look at the rim but Scottie Thompson lost the ball in the process. 

Fajardo finished with 33 points, 19 rebounds, two assists, and two blocks while Lassiter chipped in 25 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. 

Chris Ross added 13 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and two blocks and Santos scored 11 points, 8 coming in the payoff period alone, and had 11 rebounds, 5 assists, and two blocks in the win. 

“I think ‘yung panalo namin is tsamba. We thought from the start na we’re losing this game but maybe, because of the pride and the experience of the team, they don’t want to lose because they know the importance of this game,” said San Miguel head coach Leo Austria.

Ginebra held a 53-38 lead late in the second quarter courtesy of seldom-used Prince Caperal’s 17 first half points before the Beermen found their groove in the 3rd period, trimming their deficit to just 3 points, 70-73, heading in the final frame.

Japeth Aguilar had 28 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and two blocks and Caperal churned out 26 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists but it was not enough to lift Ginebra, which has a 2-3 win-loss card against San Miguel in their last 5 outings. 

Game 3 of the semis will be held on Tuesday, March 13, at the Mall of Asia Arena. 

The Scores:

San Miguel (104): Fajardo 33, Lassiter 25, Ross 13, Cabagnot 13, Santos 11, Ganuelas-Rosser 7, Heruela 2, Pessumal 0, Espinas 0, De Ocampo 0

Ginebra (102): Aguilar J. 28, Caperal 26, Devance 11, Thompson 10, Cruz 10, Tenorio 8, Mercado 7, Mariano 2

Quarters: 25-30, 42-55 70-73, 95-95, 104-102 (OT) 

– Rappler.com