Gin Kings complete 3-game semis sweep of Beermen

Brgy. Ginebra roared back from a lackluster performance in the first three quarters and dominated San Miguel in the payoff period to take Game 3, 87-85, and complete a 3-game sweep in the best-of-five semifinal round of the PBA Season 47 Governors’ Cup Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

The Gin Kings, who trailed by as much as 18 points and were down by 12 going into the final frame, leaned on the heroics Jeremiah Gray and Christian Standhardinger to seal the win and book a ticket to the championship round of the season-ending conference.

Gray drained the go-ahead triple just as the game entered the final two minutes of play while Standhardinger converted the game-winning short stab off a nifty assist by Justin Brownlee.

Brownlee paced the defending champions with 22 points and 14 rebounds in 45 minutes of play. The naturalized Filipino shot 9-of-21 from the field and also finished with 4 assists and steals.

“Certainly different from the first two games. Just real struggle,” said Brgy. Ginebra head coach Tim Cone during the post-game presser. “I was ready to give up on that one (3-0 sweep) at various times of the game. But the players wouldn’t quit. If I may borrow from coach Sonny (Jaworksi), it’s NSD, never-say-die, at its finest.”

“Every timeout, I was looking into their eyes, at their body language to see if they’re ready to pack it in and go fight on Friday. But I never saw it so I stayed with them. We made a couple of big shots and nice stops and before we knew it, we won the game,” he added.

Reigning league MVP Scottie Thompson added a double-double of 17 points and 11 boards while Christian Standhardinger contributed 14 points, 17 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals. Jeremiah Gray and Jamie Malonzo chipped in 13 and 12 markers, respectively.

Cameron Clark paced the PBA Season 47 Philippine Cup champs with 16 points and 10 rebounds while CJ Perez added 14 points, 7 boards, 3 steals and a block. The top overall pick of the 2018 draft, however, shot a miserable 5-of-19 from the field including 0-of-5 from long distance and committed a team-high 5 turnovers in 31 minutes of play.

Marcio Lassiter scored 13 including a clutch triple which tied the game at 85-all with 26 ticks left on the game clock. Jericho Cruz and Simon Enciso contributed 12 and 11 markers, respectively.

The marks the first time the Beermen were swept in 27 best-of-five series appearances.

The scores:

Brgy. Ginebra 87 – Brownlee 22, Thompson 17, Standhardinger 14, Gray 13, Malonzo 12, Pinto 4, Pessumal 3, Mariano 2, Pringle 0.

San Miguel 85 – Clark 16, Perez 14, Lassiter 13, Cruz 12, Enciso 11, Tautuaa 6, Herndon 6, Ross 5, Manuel 2.

Quarterscores: 17-16, 38-50, 58-70, 87-85.