WITH its NSD (never-say-die) spirit on display, Barangay Ginebra took the kickoff of its PBA Philippine Cup Last Four waltz with San Miguel Beer.
It's an ugly game Ginebra turned into a nice win as the Gin Kings fought back from 18 points down and beat the cold-shooting Beermen in the clutch, taking the series head start with a 73-71 decision at the MOA Arena in Pasay City Wednesday night.
Japeth Aguilar and his teammates endured a long struggle before making a key run late in the game, pouncing on the Beermen's own struggle at the finish and completing a steal for the series lead going into Game 2 Friday over at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Aguilar ignited their 12-2 closing salvo capped by own clutch hits by Stephen Holt and Troy Rosario as Ginebra stoked the fire of its four-game romp from the elims, avenging their 93-104 loss to San Miguel early in the tourney.
The top seeded Beermen jumped out of the starting gate and took control most of the way despite an awful shooting. But as they threw bricks in the second half, they gave way to a Ginebra fightback and their eventual downfall.
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Aguilar scored a team-high 18 and narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds as Scottie Thompson and Jamie Malonzo added 16 and 14 points, respectively.
Meanwhile, Holt was 0-of-5 from the field before knocking down a trey that pushed Ginebra ahead at 70-69 entering the last two minutes of the game.
Later sent to the stripe with 2.0 ticks to go, Holt made the front-end of his charities then deliberately flubbed the second as the Kings completed the two-point victory before a good Wednesday crowd in the opener of the best-of-seven semis series.
The Beermen blew away the game on a woeful 26-81 field clip.
CJ Perez was 8-of-21, Juami Tiongson 5-of-15, June Mar Fajardo 3-of-10, Marcio Lassiter 1-of-6 and Rodney Brondial 0-of-4. The SMB back-up crew didn't do any better.
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They actually got to a strong start, taking the opening quarter at 29-19 before bleeding for just 16 in the second, 15 in the third and 11 in the fourth.(SB)
The scores:
Ginebra 73 - J. Aguilar 18, Thompson 16, Malonzo 14, Rosario 7, R. Aguilar 6, Holt 4, Abarrientos 2, Pinto 2, Gray 2, Adamos 2, Ahanmisi 0, David 0.
San Miguel 71 - Perez 21, Tiongson 12, Cruz 12, Trollano 9, Fajardo 6, Ross 5, Lassiter 3, Cahilig 3, Brondial 0, Tautuaa 0, Calma 0.
Quarterscores: 19-29, 37-45, 56-60, 73-71
