MANILA, January 6 ------ Troy Rosario and Stephen Holt waxed hot to help Barangay Ginebra San Miguel clinch its fifth win in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner's Cup. The two drained seven of the Gin Kings' 11 three-pointers in their 93-81 victory over the San Miguel Beermen at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, their second straight victory.
This was Rosario's best game donning Ginebra's kits, putting up 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field, and this was together with 10 rebounds and a block. "It was a lot of heart from this guy," said Ginebra coach Tim Cone during the postgame presser, talking about his newest ace in Rosario. "He's always been all over the floor defensively for us and an X-factor for us, but tonight, he was also huge on the offensive side. Troy kinda represented our performance tonight, we really played hard."
Also admirable were Holt's 15 markers, two dimes, and two boards, Justine Brownlee's 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Japeth Aguilar's 11 markers, eight boards, and five assists, while Scottie Thompson stuffed the stats sheet with eight points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists, and one steal. Down 21-18 early in the second period, the Gin Kings went on an 11-to-three spurt in a span of three minutes for a 29-21 advantage all thanks to baskets from RJ Abarrientos, Aguilar, Rosario, and Thompson.
A three-pointer by Rosario with still 1:28 left in the first half then gave Ginebra a 45-28 lead, but San Miguel showed signs of life in the second half to bring themselves within striking distance at multiple points. One came after an Andreas Cahilig triple with still 9:32 in the game, cutting their deficit to 10, 69-59, but Rosario and Brownlee answered with a trey and a deuce, respectively, to bring their lead back to 15, 74-59. A late push by Jabari Narcis at the 1:46 mark of the fourth brought SMB to nine, 88-79, but Brownlee put on the finishing touches which allowed Ginebra to improve to 5-2 in the team standings. On the other hand, the Beermen, who leaned on Narcis' 17 markers and 10 boards game, and June Mar Fajardo's 12-point, 23-rebound game, fell to below .500, 3-4.
The Scores:
Ginebra 93 – Rosario 22, Brownlee 19, Holt 15, J.Aguilar 11, Thompson 8, Abarrientos 8, Ahanmisi 7, CCu 3, Adamos 0.
San Miguel 81 – Narcis 17, Perez 14, Tiongson 12, Fajardo 12, Cruz 9, Lassiter 6, Cahilig 6, Ross 3, Tautuaa 2, Brondial 0, Enciso 0.
Quarterscores: 16-16, 47-31, 66-50, 93-81.
Source: news.abs-cbn.com
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