By REYNALD MAGALLON
Terrence Romeo looked furious when he was called for a foul that allowed Barangay Ginebra to send the game to overtime in the waning seconds of regulation.
He was mad and visibly frustrated by the call. But instead of lashing it out on the referees, he made sure to let his game do the talking.
Romeo took over down the stretch as San Miguel Beer edged Ginebra, 131-125, in Game 2 of their PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup semifinals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Friday, Oct. 11.
Making up for a huge defensive blunder in regulation, Romeo drilled a booming triple and resounding four-pointer in succession to help the Beermen create the much-needed separation and survive the furious Kings’ comeback to tie the best-of-seven series at 1-1.
Down by three, 117-114, in regulation, the six-foot guard drilled the first long bomb at the left wing off a broken play to tie the game before draining another from the extended arc off a nice kickout pass from June Mar Fajardo.
SMB held the lead for good as baskets from Marcio Lassiter, EJ Anosike and Jericho Cruz eventually sealed the win for the Beermen.
Romeo, virtually silent in the series opener, exploded for conference-high 26 points – 22 of which he poured in the final frame and overtime. He shot a perfect 5-of-5 clip from trey and a 1-of-1 from the four as he kept SMB against the rallying Ginebra.
Anosike topscored SMB with 35 points and nine rebounds while June Mar Fajardo was an immovable force inside the paint with 23 points and 21 rebounds.
CJ Perez had his best game so far in the playoffs with 28 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and was almost the hero in regulation when he drained a four-pointer that put SMB up, 110-108, with 2.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Romeo, however, was called for a foul in their final defensive stand to which Maverick Ahanmisi took advantage of and coolly sank the free throws to drag the contest to the extra five minutes.
Justin Brownlee stuffed the stat sheet with 39 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists, four steals and four blocks to lead Ginebra’s comeback efforts from 13 points down in the second half.
Meanwhile,
Calvin Oftana and Rey Nambatac took turns in a pivotal third quarter flurry as TNT asserted its mastery of Rain or Shine, 108-91.
The duo presided over a huge third quarter for the Tropang Giga, combining for 25 of their 38 points that allowed them to pull away from the tight contest and take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Oftana shone with a double-double of 18 points – all of which he poured in the second half – and a career-high tying 14 rebounds which he also last achieved against Rain or Shine in their elimination round game last conference.
Nambatac, on the other hand, had 11 of his 17 in the third quarter to go with his six rebounds and four assists.
Import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was held scoreless in the opening frame but started to work in the second frame, dropping 12 of his game-high 23 points to give TNT a slim 47-44 lead at the break after trailing by as many as seven, 22-29, early on.
The Scores:
First Game:
TNT 108 – Hollis-Jefferson 23, Oftana 18, Nambatac 17, Aurin 11, Pogoy 8, Galinato 8, Erram 6, Khobuntin 6, Castro 5, Heruela 5, Payawal 1, Ebona 0, Varilla 0, Exciminiano 0.
RAIN OR SHINE 91 – Clarito 18, Fuller 13, Caracut 9, Lemetti 9, Belga 9, Norwood 9, Datu 8, Santillan 5, Nocum 3, Villegas 3, Mamuyac 3, Asistio 2, Ildefonso 0.
QUARTERS : 17-21, 47-44, 85-65, 108-91.
Second Game (OT):
SAN MIGUEL 131 – Anosike 35, Perez 28, Romeo 26, Fajardo 23, Lassiter 12, Cruz 5, Tautuaa 2, Ross 0, Rosales 0, Trollano 0, Enciso 0, Manuel 0.
GINEBRA 125 – Brownlee 39, J.Aguilar 29, Thompson 16, Ahanmisi 15, Holt 14, Abarrientos 4, Tenorio 3, Cu 2, Devance 2, Pinto 1, Pessumal 0, Adamos 0.
QUARTERS : 22-24, 51-47, 85-76, 110-110, 131-125
