LUCENA CITY, Philippines – Barangay Ginebra San Miguel avoided falling victim to the biggest meltdown in a finals game, surviving multiple comebacks by the San Miguel Beermen to escape with a wild 124-118 overtime victory last night that tied their best-of-seven series for the PBA Philippine Cup title at the jampacked Quezon Convention City here.
Ginebra was on the verge of falling to a 0-2 hole when San Miguel erased a 26-point deficit second quarter deficit to lead 110-108 with three seconds left in regulation. But Joe Devance saved the crowd-favorite squad from the jaws of defeat, scoring a buzzer-beating putback that forced a extra five-minute period.
Coach Tim Cone’s squad then had to weather off a final Beermen rally led by Ronald Tubid, whose back-to-back triples leveled the count at 118-118 with 1:40 to play in the extension. Japeth Aguilar broke the tie with two foul shots to finish with a team-high 23 points and Scottie Thompson broke past Arwind Santos for a layup to make it 122-118, 53.4 remaining.
Thompson’s breakaway proved to be the clincher for Ginebra, which recovered from an embarrassing 109-82 loss in the series opener last Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena to split the first two games of the showdown for the league’s most important championship.
Thompson was the star attraction in this Southern Tagalog city with 18 points, 18 rebounds and eight assists for Ginebra. Rookie Kevin Ferrer scored 21 points, making 18 of those in the second period, while Devance had 16 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in 31 minutes – his longest exposure since injuring his left foot in the quarterfinals against the Alaska Aces.
San Miguel may have been kicking themselves for wasting a golden opportunity at doubling its lead in the series after overcoming the odds of trailing 65-39 in the second and losing Marcio Lassiter and June Mar Fajardo in the third and fourth periods, respectively.
Lassiter sizzled for 16 of his 21 points in the third quarter but was ejected before that period ended for a questionable technical foul for taunting after hitting a three that reduced Ginebra’s lead just 84-82.
Fajardo, who was held check and produced just 10 points and seven rebounds, was lost for good when he committed his sixth personal foul with over two minutes to play in regulation. (by Jonas Terrado)
Scores:
GINEBRA 124 – Aguilar 24, Ferrer 21, Thompson 18, Devance 16, Tenorio 15, Mercado 11, Ellis 8, Marcelo 6, Cruz 4, Taha 2.
SAN MIGUEL 118 – Santos 23, Lassiter 21, Ross 16, Tubid 13, Cabagnot 13, Espinas 13, Fajardo 10, Heruela 4, De Ocampo 2, Agovida 0, Reyes 0.
Quarters: 28-20; 67-43; 85-82; 110-110 (Reg); 124-118 (OT)